Last Post? Could Be...

Well, if that isn't the buzz-kill of all buzz-kills. Anyways, today marks the descent into finals period (just finished my Economics of Globalization), and I'm down from six research papers left to one, and this semester is officially coming to a crashing end. It's sad really. I realized the other day that I've now spent roughly a fifth of my life living in Europe (almost four years...), but I still don't come close to identifying myself as "European." Maybe its because the first bit was when I was so young. But you'd think, seeing as my first conscious memories are of Ireland, that I'd feel a little more tied to this wonderful continent. A side note, even though I've lived in Europe for four years, I've never actually lived on the continent. Ireland and Sjæland are both islands... But whatever, I'm sure very few of you care about nit-picky details like that. Another random thing...because of the climate conference, we have all sorts of people from all over the world here now, and this morning on the train I was eavesdropping on a conversation being held entirely in Spanish. It almost made my head explode, because mentally I was translating from Spanish to Danish, going through English like an overpaid middleman. I found that my Danish was actually better than my Spanish, which I find troubling, and when I got off the train I had a non-disease related headache...

Anyways, I apologize for the slightly rambling beginning. If you can't tell, I'm starting to get a little nostalgic about my time here. Ten days from now, I will be sitting on an airplane, probably already out over the Atlantic, jetting home. It's difficult to comprehend. I keep saying things like "I'm ready" and "Man, it'll be great to be back in the States!" But I remain unconvinced that I am. I've grown closer to my host family, the Wredstrøms, than I could have possibly imagined, and I know that I'll miss them terribly once I leave this little slice of dark paradise. They've been a rock for me, equally amazing when I was on the highest of highs, loving Denmark and the experience on the whole, as when I dipped down to the lowest of lows following my grandfather's passing and the awful bout of homesickness that followed.

Honestly, if I hadn't been placed with the Wredstrøms, my experience would have been entirely different here. I must admit that I've had a much harder time making good friends here than I expected. Partly it stems from leaving the comfort zone that is Williams. Williams is honestly the first place I've ever felt accepted and as though I fit in to the community. Leaving that was very challenging, and I never really came out of my shell in my interactions with the Americans who are also here. It also stems from being so far away from the city. I don't blame my lack of interaction with Americans entirely on that; if I'd felt a little more motivation, there were certainly ways I could have spent more evenings in the city. But not having the amazing network of people I've grown so close with over the last two years easily accessible has been by far the biggest challenge I've faced over here. However, the Wredstrøms have made an American friend group a luxury that I could afford to give up. They managed to fill the role of family and friends at the same time.

Anyways, a couple of updates. I did in fact go to Sweden last weekend. That brought my country count to eight for the semester (Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Hungary, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom), and now I've visited 12 countries in Europe in my lifetime (add Ireland, France, Spain, and Austria). Carsten and Ingrid took me over on the ferry from Helsingør, Denmark to Helsingbor, Sweden. It was about a 30 minute drive and a 20 minute ferry ride. We had a great afternoon. Before we even left Denmark, we stopped in Fredensborg to see the house that the crown prince lives in. It's weird to be able to walk right up to his door (more or less) and see only two guards on the entire premises. Try getting that close to the White House... I bet you can't... Then we went to Kronborg castle, which earns its fame from being the home of Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare's play. (Elsinore is the British bastardization of Helsingør.) Once we crossed the sound, we started by walking through the main street of Helsingbor, stopping to have a coffee at a little cafe (it was actually Espresso House, which I think is New York based). Then we went off to a shopping center so Carsten and Ingrid could do a little Christmas shopping. The prices are so much lower in Sweden that it would be foolish not to. There's actually an interesting product flow between the two countries. Because Sweden has very high alcohol taxes, alcohol moves from Denmark to Sweden. Because everything else is cheaper in Sweden, all other goods flow the opposite direction. We also stopped at a little fishing village on the Swedish coast before heading back across Østersund to Denmark. It was a fun day.

Anyways, not much more to report on. Another fun evening with the Grams and Wredstrøms last Sunday. I've done tons of work over the last couple of weeks. I actually think that the last two weeks have been more intense than any two week period I've faced at Williams. I might have to talk with Dean McKeon about the whole five classes issue. This weekend I need to start packing. Still not sure where I'll be next Saturday night, but Sunday morning I'll be on a plane headed to the United States of Awesome!

Three things I know: 1) There are certainly things I know that I am going to LOVE having back (Pudge, anyone?) 2) I'm going to miss this kingdom of islands by the sea. It's a truly amazing place. 3) The Wredstrøms rock, and have been my, well, rock, the entire time, and I will miss them a ton when I head back to the states.

If I get my act together and give you one more blog post next week (sandwiched within working on my 18 to 25 page international law final paper), then it will probably center on my upcoming trip to Tivoli on Friday, as well as whatever else we do this weekend.

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

The Long Weekend (aka TURKEY!!!)

First and foremost, it appears as though the professor's here are hell bent that our lasting memories of Denmark involve copious quantities of papers for their respective classes. I've written three hardcore research papers in the last two weeks, and I have three more to go in the next two weeks. Lots of writing. It's probably good though. I need something to get me accustomed to the workload that I will be returning to when I get back to Williams.

While on academics, my next six months have now been decided, as follows:

Winter Study: Current Economic Issues
Spring Semester: Economics of Higher Education Tutorial, Social Psychology, Oceanography, and a 300 level theater seminar about the use of music in theatrical productions.

There are, of course, things going on in my life that do not involve academics. For instance, the Thanksgiving break that we just finished. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I do not cook. Ever. But somehow, my host family and I got the brilliant idea that I should attempt to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for twelve Danes (my host family and the Gram family). A few people told me I wouldn't be able to pull it off, and a few others told me I was crazy to try. Needless to say, that was all the motivation I needed. The pictures are below, description of the event a little lower:

The Danes enjoying their Thanksgiving Dinner!

The hors d'oeuvres of baked brie and crackers, and the ginger cider welcome drink.

The table, set and lit by Ingrid before the Grams arrive.

The finished product! Turkey with all the fixings...

We set the date for the Friday after Thanksgiving because it was more convenient for my family and was easier for me to have a full day in advance to prepare some stuff. Preparations started Monday night, when I went shopping with Ingrid for all of the ingredients that I would need for the feast. On Wednesday night, I started the cooking by getting the desserts out of the way. I cooked a pecan pie (that was very popular with the Danes) and a pumpkin pie (not so much).

Thursday was my "practice" day. Ingrid bought two turkeys from the butcher because we weren't sure whether one Danish turkey would feed twelve people (turns out it would, but it was close...) So I spent the better part of Thursday monitoring the first of the turkeys, making sure it got stuffed and didn't get too dry while it cooked.

Friday was the big day. I started cooking for the 5:30 dinner party at a little after noon, and didn't leave the kitchen more than twice before the dinner started. Friday involved the second turkey, stuffed to the gills with the good stuff; mashed potatoes; candied potatoes; green beans; brocolli casserole; a baked brie appetizer; a hard ginger/apple cider welcome cocktail; and whipped cream. Things turned out pretty well, and with a little last minute backup from Ingrid, we got the dinner all finished before the Grams got there.

Once everybody got settled in and we had a cocktail in our hands, I put on a youtube version of "The First Thanksgiving" story, to attempt to explain a part of the Thanksgiving tradition. Also, at dinner, I passed along a Hewett family tradition of mentioning a couple of things that you were thankful for over the past few years. Hopefully I've started a new Danish tradition for the two families! Also, I managed an invite back to Denmark next Thanksgiving for Turkey Day round two!

Saturday was a pretty low-key day. In the morning, I finished one of the aforementioned research papers (a discussion of a policy Kenya should follow in order to achieve economic development) before heading over to the Grams house for a mini-Christmas market. I joined a small group choir in singing Christmas carols for a little while, mingled with some of the Danes, and then headed back to our house to have some lunch and warm up.

On Sunday, I managed to wake up in time for the Sunday family breakfast (this was only the second time that this has happened while I've been here...). I did a little bit of work while the Wredstroms were at church, and then I went down to the city with Carsten and Ingrid for the afternoon.

We first went down to the local catholic church (at least we thought it was catholic...it had "our lady" in the name) to hear a service featuring some pieces by Hendel performed by a quartet. A little "Goddy" for my taste, but the music was very good and it was more or less enjoyable. After that, we went for a walk down Stroget to find a cafe. On the walk, Ingrid decided that a hot-dog was in order, and I, of course, whole-heartedly agreed. Ingrid ordered for me (a little disappointed that I requested no raw onions...) and they were truly delicious. After the hotdogs, we continued down to the Royal Cafe. The Royal Cafe is a hyggeligt little spot on the walking street that is now famous as the place that Oprah visited while she was here. We had some gløgg med æbleskiver and enjoyed a cozy hour or so in the cafe. Gløgg is a Christmas beverage that is a mixture of warmed red wine, some form of harder alcohol, nuts, and fruit. It was delicious, warmed you from the inside out, and packed a bit of a whallop. Æbleskiver are apple dumplings that could best be described to an American as an upscale donut hole, served with jelly and powdered sugar (a do-it-yourself jelly donut if you will...). After our snacks, we walked around the street so I could do my last bit of Christmas shopping (that's right, first of December and I am DONE!!!) before heading back north. It was a really fun afternoon.

I had a wonderful long weekend. It was a great mixture of me imparting American traditions on "my" Danes and them imparting more wonderful Danish traditions on me. Now that December is here (complete with a "High School Musical" Advent Calendar), the Christmas season is in full swing. The city is getting more and more beautiful every day with lights, wreaths, and candles. I'm working harder than I have all semester, which is often the case as the semester winds down. I have two more weeks of classes, and then finals. The semester, and my time in Denmark, is winding down, and I'll be home in 19 days.

Spoiler: The next post will most likely be about my upcoming trip to Sweden with my family and the Grams, which is coming up this Saturday! Can't wait to cross another country off the list!