Saturday, August 27, 2016
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Last Post? Could Be...
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.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Long Weekend (aka TURKEY!!!)
Spring Semester: Economics of Higher Education Tutorial, Social Psychology, Oceanography, and a 300 level theater seminar about the use of music in theatrical productions.
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!
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Rest of my European Vacation
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sick and Tired in Hungary
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Hyggligt Godt Weekenden
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Study Tour #2 and Some Other Stuff
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A Couple of Notes and Memories of Bumpa
Memories of Summer:
Russell S. (Bumpa) Hewett
There are many things that typified summers for me while I was growing up. Dips in Sebago Lake, running naked through the sprinkler on the lawn on the Cape Road, my days at camp—first at Wohelo and later, Birch Rock. However, one set of memories sticks out as being traditionally recognizant as the happiest of my summer days as a youth. That is, my annual week- or weekend-long retreat to the spoil yourself rotten, full-service, all-inclusive, all-you-can-eat, Grandparent Spa and Adventure Retreat in Winthrop, Maine. Seriously, had Bumpa and Grammy Hewett had one greedy bone in their body, they could have made some serious cash offering the packages similar to the one that the three grandkids were lucky enough to receive each summer.
A visit to the grandparents would typically begin with a meal. I’d arrive mid-afternoon, and the kitchen would already smell absolutely wonderful with whatever dish was planned for that evening. Once things in the kitchen were relatively settled, the three of us would enjoy a happy hour. The two of them were very serious about enjoying this hour, and although at times it was challenging for the fidgety, rambunctious, seven-year-old version of myself to sit still for an entire hour of swapping stories and eating homemade snack mix and drinking IBC root beer, it was a wonderful opportunity to hear stories (both true and made-up) and enjoy the company of two of the most wonderful, kind-hearted people in the world. It is only looking back on these days as an (almost) adult that I begin to realize how special they were and how lucky I really was.
After happy hour and dinner, we would almost always engage in one of the three activities that are stereotypically “Bumpa." That is, the making and consumption of the most amazing parfaits that you could possibly imagine. No opening night dinner was complete without them. I recall one particular visit when the two of them had had the audacity to invite me over without thinking ahead and stocking the freezer with a sufficient quantity of ice cream. After dinner, Bumpa dutifully hopped into the car and drove down to the store to pick up the necessary supplies and returned home to prepare the treats.
The next day would almost always begin with Bumpa and me going out to the lawn to raise the flag, and would continue inside with frosted cinnamon Pop-Tarts for me (which my mother never let me eat at home) and Granola for the two of them and a copy of the paper making its rounds in the room. I’d sit reading and re-reading the comics while they absorbed the morning news. When they were finished, the three of us would sit down with the Jumble and try to struggle through it. Well, to be honest, Grammy and I would struggle through it, and when we were completely stuck, we’d run it over to Bumpa who miraculously would immediately see the word where the two of us had only seen a mix of letters.
The morning would quite often continue with the second stereotypically “Bumpa” activity: a trip down to Marlene’s pool. The three of us could truly while away the hours swimming and playing in the pool, and our adventures never ceased to entertain me.
After returning to the house for lunch, the afternoon would typically involve a trip. If it were not-so-nice out, we’d go to a movie or bowling. If it were nice out, we’d go to one of the most wonderful places on earth for a seven-year-old and his grandparents and, not coincidentally, the third place that remains a very “Bumpa-esque” memory in my mind: Tabor’s mini-golf in Auburn. We’d play a round of mini-golf, hit a bucket of balls at the driving range, and have the mandatory ice cream or fried delicacy from Tabor’s snack bar. It was a fitting conclusion to the many wonderful days I spent with my grandparents growing up.
Unfortunately, there’s no denying that the last couple of years had been very hard on Bumpa. Losing some of his independence and moving from Auburn to Bangor were both challenges that he handled with as much grace and poise as one could expect. Even as his physical health started to fail him, his mind and wit remained sharp as a tack. He always loved to make people laugh, and was quick to make a joke out of a bad situation to lighten the mood of everybody around him. One time, in the ER, when asked for any surgeries he may have undertaken by a male Triage Nurse, he quickly retorted: “Well, do you want me to start with my circumcision”? To which the room immediately burst out in laughter.
He had a truly infectious personality, had many wonderful stories to tell, shared more wisdom with me than I could hope to learn from any other source, and was a truly wonderful grandfather. I love him very much, and he will be deeply missed.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Crossing Things Off The Bucket List
Danish words of the day: Marathon...translates pretty easily, it's the same in both languages. Rutschebanen...roller coaster... Oh yeah!
Quote of the week: Mom: "Have you ever even run a road-race before"? Me: "I ran the Raymond fun run when I was six..." Mom: "You can count that if you want, but just so you know, most people don't start with marathons..."
So, as you may or may not have guessed by the first portion of this post, I ran my marathon this past weekend in Odense! I was feeling pretty nervous about it, because my last three weeks of training had been pretty bad (a result of me losing a part of my passion for it and also the fact that I was way to busy to maintain a normal training regimen). I went in with a goal of finishing in under 4 hours, thinking that 3:40 would be the best-case scenario.
The course was a two-lapper through most of Odense. The course had a nice mix of scenic park running, quiet running in the outskirts of town, and a 3 mile weave through the downtown walking streets. Now, Denmark for the most part is very flat. However, there were three significant climbs on the course (most of them were brief, but quite steep). One of the climbs was at the very end of the course (the 19th and 39th kilometer), and the first time through, I realized that it had the potential to be a very nasty climb on the second lap. I was right. Climbing that hill for the second time made me want to cry. However, I used most of the other hills to my advantage, climbing at a pretty quick tempo and making up a lot of ground during them.
I also had a very good, fast, half-marathon. I made the turn at 1:39:50 (essentially a 3:20 pace, carrying a 7:38 mile pace). I felt pretty good at the end of the lap, but I had a feeling that that wasn't going to be sustainable for the rest of the race. As I expected, I hit a wall, hard, at about 30 km, and my last two full 5k splits were significantly slower than my first 6 had been. I ran the second half in just under 2 hours, and finished with a 3:39:01, which I was quite pleased with! The second lap hurt a lot, but I still had enough energy (probably pure adrenaline at that point) to turn it up a little bit for the last 195 meters in the track (in metric, a marathon is 42.195 kilometers, so I know that it was 195 because I turned on the jets right as I passed the 42km marker). I ran the last 195 at what felt like a sprint (probably pretty slow on the grand scheme...) and almost collapsed coming across the finish line. One of the people who I started next to at the beginning of the marathon (meaning that we had the same start time) and had passed and been passed by a few times over the course of the marathon was one of the people I gassed on the track at the finish. I ended up eeking him out by about 7 seconds, and we shared a hand shake of mutual respect after we had both had a moment to recover. My time was good enough to land me 465th out of 1965 runners (and for those of you who are wondering, it was in fact a Kenyan who won the race, about an hour and 20 minutes before I got to the finish) and put me in 13th out of 63 runners in the Men 20-24 age bracket.
Now, everything you read about marathons prepares you to feel like absolute dog-meat for the last 6 miles. It has something to do with fully depleting your glycogen stores after 20 miles of running or some such nonsense. I'll admit that they were right, the last 6 miles (10.2km) were by far the hardest thing I have ever done. However, what nobody prepares you for is the feeling at the end of the race. I have never been in that much discomfort. My head throbbed, I felt like I was going to be sick, and every part of my body (including parts as innocuous as my fingertips and elbows) hurt as much as any part of my body had ever hurt. There was no position I could get my body into that would alleviate any part of the pain, and I pretty much just had to suck it up and get some measure of comfort out of the fact that I then didn't have to run another step for a week (or a month, or ever, really...). About two hours after I finished, I had had a calf massage, a shower, a change of clothes, and a little bit of first aid on my very blistered toe, and I started to feel slightly alive again. Walking was still more than I wanted to take on, but I no longer felt like death warmed over. This morning, I can walk somewhat comfortably again (although stairs are still kicking my ass) and I'm thinking that I might be convinced to do another one again at some point in the not-so-near future...
I'd be remiss if I didn't thank a few people for the help, advice, and support that they provided over the last 5 or 6 months. Obviously my family, all of whom were awesome throughout the entire process (starting in last October). Without the help of each of them, I never would have made it this far. The other person without whom this probably would never have happened it Robby Cuthbert, who dragged my ass out of the 4 mile loop I'd been running for about 6 months last march and brought me on a 6 mile run, essentially introducing me to the concept of running anything resembling long distances. He also was an awesome running/training partner this spring and summer, and is largely responsible for my current perception of running as something "fun" rather than something dreadful. I also want to pass along my gratitude to my suite (both from the 08-09 school year and this past summer) not only for the support that they offered me, but also for their understanding regarding the evenings that I neglected them as a result of the running that I was doing or the fact that I was too tired to move. There are numerous other people who played a part in making this possible. In fact, odds are that if you've read down this far, you're one of my closer friends, and I want to offer a blanket thank you to all of you as well.
It may be double-dipping, but I'm crossing "Run a Marathon" and "Run a Marathon in a Foreign Country" off of my bucket list!
This may be a bit of a forced segway, but while I'm on the topic of Bucket Lists, I also can cross a few other things off of my bucket list as a result of Friday evening in Tivoli Gardens. Friday afternoon I met my host brother Jonathan in Tivoli to go on a few of the rides. I added 3 roller coasters to my lifetime count (now up to a whopping 24, including the one of the oldest roller coasters in the world). I'm crossing "Ride a Roller Coaster in a Foreign Country off of the List too.
After spending the afternoon getting our adrenaline up, we met with Carsten and Ingrid to have dinner at a great Japanese restaurant that is right by Tivoli. After dinner, we went back into Tivoli to see a ballet troupe from New York City perform for the queen, her sisters, and the crown prince. It was a very interesting performance, and I enjoyed it. The queen presented a couple of awards in honor of her late mother, Queen Ingrid, after intermission, and it was a great opportunity to be a part of a royal event! However, I made a little mistake at the beginning of the performance... I had separated from the Wredstrøms to use the restroom, and when I tried to find my seat, I went to the A-entrance (as was indicated on my ticket). However, I was unaware that for performances that the queen is attending, the A entrance is closed and secured so that she can safely and quickly enter and exit the hall. As I tried to stroll into the auditorium through that entrance a very large (and surprisingly polite) usher/bodyguard stepped in front of me and stopped my forward progress. Realizing my mistake before I did, he directed me to the B-entrance. This slip-up was made all the more embarrassing by the fact that I was entering at the same time as the queen. In fact, I had tried to enter between the queen's sisters and the queen herself... On the plus side, it was very cool to be about 4 feet away from the queen herself! That being said, I am crossing "Embarrass Yourself in Front of Royalty" off of the Bucket List as Well!
After leaving the ballet, there was a rock concert going on outside (Infernal was playing...Apparently they're huge in Denmark) so we watched that for a while. After seeing some of the concert, we walked around Tivoli to see some of the lights and sounds (it was absolutely beautiful! You can see why Disney himself was inspired by Tivoli). We eventually found a little cafe to get some coffee and a drink before driving back up to Bendstrup. It was an amazing evening.
I don't think it needs to be said (it's mostly been implied already), but this past weekend was one of a kind. It was filled with amazing experiences. There was one dark spot, however. I was informed Saturday of the passing of my grandfather Russell (Bumpa) Hewett. It was not necessarily unexpected (he had been sick for the last few months), but it was still tough news to take. It makes it very hard to be so far away from my family when something like this happens. I really wish I could be there with them. A link to his obituary is included in the links section if anybody is interested in reading it.
I'm sorry to leave you on a sad note, but I hope that everything is going as well for all of you where-ever you may be as it is going for me in Denmark!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Weekend and Study Tour Recap
Anyways, this past weekend was (for the most part) phenomenal. At one point (about three beers into my brewery tour and tasting and, admittedly, a little bit tipsy) I looked over to one of my friends from my Economic Theories of Globalization class, raised my glass, and proclaimed "touche DIS!" I'm still not quite sure what I meant by that, but I think it mostly regarded me being pleased with the overall study tour experience of the weekend.
Let's recap: On Thursday morning, Ingrid woke up at the first fart of the lark (for those of you who aren't my dad, that's REALLY early) to drive me into the train station at Hillerød. I took the train down to Nørreport and was on a bus heading toward Jutland at 7:45 that morning (surprisingly right on schedule). We first travelled to Århus to visit an art museum and get the cultural aspect of the weekend off to a start. The museum (ARoS) was wonderful, although we didn't have quite enough time to visit all of the nooks and crannies of it. A couple of highlights (pictures will be on facebook and linked here soon, I promise) were "The Nine Spaces," a collection of dark, creepy rooms that were an exhibition of art created using mainly light and sound; a 20 foot tall lifelike figurine of a Gollum-esque young boy; and Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe. We also got lunch at a little buffet on the main drag of Århus before getting back on the bus to head to our first academic stop of the trip.
After the visit at Suzlon, we drove to Herning and checked into our Danhostel for the evening. I thought about renting the movie "Hostel" for the night, but decided that that might be a bad idea. Anyways, the hostel fed us, and then we walked about 2 miles into town to find a couple of bars to spend a few hours before bed.
The next morning we were up early to travel to Bang & Olufsen, a high end electronics store in denial about its gradual economic decline. To give you an idea of the attitude at B&O, they claim that their competition is less with Sony and Panasonic and more with Gucci and Lexus. We did have a decent presentation to get the morning started, where they explained what it's like to be the producer of a purely luxury good and danced around the questions we asked regarding substitutions away from luxury goods resulting from the current economic climate. We then had a dreadfully boring tour of their factory that lasted about an hour too long. I seriously wondered how many aluminium rods I could be shown before grabbing one and bashing myself over the head with it. After that was over, we moved on to the demos. These were cool. Say what you want about the prospect of spending thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of dollars on Audio/Video equipment, but their products were nice. The first demo was that of their high end sound system (that can only be found in Audis, Aston Martins, and Mercedes). You have never heard music in a car sound that amazing (and you probably never will). They then showed us a $300,000 room completely decked out with a B&O soundsystem, television, a 100" projection screen, and smart-light technology. We watched some concert footage, and it was absolutely unreal. With the surround sound, you could honestly convince yourself that you were at the concert, except our seats were better than any that were actually there. I have pictures from in there too, but I'm not sure how well they came out.
After the B&O visit, we travelled about an hour north to Dare Adventure Center to play paintball. I thought that it was tuition money well spent, and we all had a great time. We played for about three hours (and I have the welts to prove it) in a forest and cityscape before departing for our hostel in Aalborg. It took about another hour to get there, and by the time we arrived, the ladies were definitely ready to be off of the same bus as some of us, admittedly very sweaty, gents. We had about 30 minutes to pass the 23 of us through 5 showers, but with a show of true efficiency (every economist's dream), we were able to get everybody cleaned off before dinner.
Dinner was at the local Bryghus (Brewhouse). A microbrewery was kind enough to welcome two DIS groups at the same time, giving about 60 of us tours, and a very fun tasting. The New Ale was one of the most delicious brews I have ever had the pleasure of drinking, and the three others that I demoed were almost equally as delicious. They also served us a very large, very delicious dinner of ribs and potatoes before unleashing us on the poor, unsuspecting town of Aalborg.
That night, we partied like crazy. We started at a little bar called Robin that had very cheap drinks, but almost no atmosphere. A friend and I were accosted by three of the biggest, foulest, meanest Danish women that I have yet encountered, who were more then willing to voice their displeasure with our inability to speak their language. Need I remind them that a) we are trying to learn it, and b) there are only 5 million of them that speak it. They left shortly thereafter and we didn't encounter them for the rest of the evening.
After Robin, four of us went to scope out potential party sites for the evening's festivities. We happened upon a location called The Hollywood Bar that, despite a very good dance-floor, a live DJ, and cheap drinks, was dead. We literally quintupled their clientelle when the four of us walked in. Spotting a win-win opportunity in the making, we approached the bartender and told him that, in exchange for a round of drinks, we could have 30 of our American friends in his bar within half-an-hour. At first he was very skeptacle and wasn't really having it, but we eventually convinced him that we could come through on our end of the deal. He agreed, and we got to work. We walked up and down the street locating the rest of the DIS students scattered amongst the bar and convinced a good deal of them to join us at The Hollywood Bar after they finished their current round. It took almost 30 minutes, but we got a solid party started from scratch (that lasted well into the night and eventually included a mix of Danes and DIS students) and got our free drinks to boot! The operation was certainly a success!
I rolled back to the hostel at about 2 the next morning, surprisingly sober and remarkably with-it. I did, however, crash very hard as soon as my head touched my pillow. That ended the best day in Denmark I've had thus far!
Saturday was pretty much a throwaway day. In the morning I regretted surprisingly few of the decisions I had made the night before and felt more or less fine. Except for the nasty cold that I'd caught from somebody (my guess is either Kristian or somebody on the bus on the way to Jutland...there's no way to be certain). I still have the sniffles as I stand in the DIS basement computer room writing this, but I'm definitely on the upswing. Saturday started with a tour of the Utzon Center (Jørn Utzon was the Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House). I was not particularly impressed. The architecture of the center (which was designed by him) was disappointingly bland, and the tour was led by an intolerably cheery woman who I wouldn't have been able to stand had I been completely healthy and had had a full night's rest. After the longest hour of my life, we got back on the bus and headed to our lunch location, a Danish Kro ( a hotel in the woods). It was the most traditional Danish meal we had the entire trip, and included a lot of tasty Danish fish dishes and some leverpostej (liver patte). After the meal, we played a speed round of mini-golf and got on the bus to head back to Zealand (the Island that København is on). A very quiet five hours later we rolled back into Frue Plads (where the whole journey had started) and I hustled to catch the next train home from Nørreport.
Sunday was when I was the sickest, and I spent most of the day napping, watching a movie with the equally sick Jakob, and doing a little bit of homework. This morning I was feeling much better (at least well enough to venture into the city for class) and am ready to attack another week.
In summary, it was an awesome Study Tour, and I am really excited for my trip to Belgium and Germany in October!
That's all for now. Pictures will be up on facebook later this week.