Anonymous asked: do you have a personal blog?
Not at the moment, though thinking of creating one.
Photo Memories.
Back from study abroad and graduated.
What in the world do I do now??
Before I begin creating a new resume, I want to post a few..or maybe more than a few… pictures from Denmark.
One of the first glimpses of my house.
One of the first times seeing a gaggle of bikers bike into the sunrise.
My little old bike.
Trip to see the Little Mermaid.
ARoS Museum
Thé à la Menthe and all of the beautiful people
Rocky Horror
Snegle
Birthday!
Standing in two places at once.
Brother Visits. Hamlet’s Castle
Makoto visits. Tivoli.
New Favorite Beers
So much love to these two.
Best experience of my life. Thank you so much Kristina and Jakob.
i suppose this is the end of this particular tumblr. farvel.
Saturday & Sunday, the Final Days.
Saturday was my final full day in Denmark. I woke up early and hopped a train to Grace’s apartment where she, Molly, Enrique and I made good-bye brunch/used up the food left in her fridge:
we drank lots of tea, made scrambled eggs with tomato, cheese, and meatballs, ate naan with chicken breast, and some spaghetti with pesto. Super random spread but pretty much nothing in her refrigerator went to waste. We reminisced, listened to music (picking sad songs to match the mood), had a big ol group hug and said good bye. Goodbye didn’t feel real.
Saturday night was a wonderful last night spent with Jakob and Kristina. They made dinner reservations on a boat that would sail all over the Roskilde Fjord. It was nice to see Roskilde by way of boat. We could see all the beaches, the red roofed houses, the moss roofed houses, and the cathedral towers in the distance. There are several small islands in the fjord that I’d seen from shore way off in the distance, and from the boat I got to see them up close. The boat sailed for 3.5 hours and we had a really good time chatting about the past 4 months, their upcoming trip to Vietnam, my summer plans, and about their trip to the US next summer!!! The 3.5 hours flew by, and we walked around the harbor during sun set before heading home. I gave them a small gift of flowers and tea, so we had a cup of chai and continued our conversation before they went off to bed and I packed into the wee hours of the night.
The boat.
Dinner and Wine.
big flag waving from the ship.
Sunday was also a good day, but sad. I woke up early to have breakfast with Jakob and Kristina, and they went all out. They made chai tea and coffee, bought my favorite pastries, baked fresh rolls that morning, and had plethora of bun toppings-5 different types of jam, 3 different kinds of cheese, butter, nutella, and peanut butter.
I packed some more, and we had both coffee and lunch in the garden.
(last picture taken of Kristina and Jakob. Lunch Sunday afternoon)
And then the dreaded moment came. The clock struck 12:30 and it was time to pack into their tiny car and go to the airport. They stood in line with me to check in and check my bags, and walked me up to security. We had been happily chatting while standing in line, but then it kind of hit us straight on when we got to security and Kristina and Jakob couldn’t come any further. Goodbyes suck. And goodbyes within the airport suck even more. I gave them each a very long hug and well, what else can you really do? We said goodbye and I love you, and they walked away while I stood in a long line of people and suitcases, feeling like a lost puppy. I’m not much of a crier, but when other people cry, I feel like crying too. Kristina dripped a few tears on me as we hugged, and as soon as I left, my own eyes began welling up. I wrote them a nice letter on the plane, thanking them for everything they’ve done for me. I miss them already.
One scary turbulent flight and one 3 hour delayed flight later, I was able to say hello to my parents. Hello. What a nice change from saying goodbye.
Friday.
Friday morning Grace and I headed to St Peder’s Bakery for the last time for a breakfast pastry (not my last pastry though, by any means). We met Molly, other Becca, and two of her friends in town square to take a free walking tour of Copenhagen. I expected the walking tour to be one hour long, two tops. Turns out it was 3 hours. I would have liked to have stayed for the whole thing, as these free walking tours have been really good, but I had made lunch plans with a friend already, and decided just to leave the tour early.
I met her for my last lunch at my favorite ever, Cafe Salonen, where our good bye ensued, as did hugs and “you’re welcome to visit ANY time.” Then I met back up with the others for a final Somersby (best hard cider ever), some unsuccessful shopping, and a sad good bye to Becca.
After the second “goodbye for real” of the day, Molly and I went to Tivoli.
Tivoli is just such a magically beautiful place. When I went with Makoto, we didn’t get there until after dark. Molly and I got there in the broad daylight (it stayed bright until about 10 pm. Loving how light the Scandinavian summers are) and it looks so different. Tivoli is full of peacocks. Not sure why, but I love it.
Normal peacock
Albino? Peacock
And my personal favorite, baby peacock.
We did a lot of walking around, ate some fish and chips, and went on some rides. Tivoli is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, but despite its age, has some pretty good/terrifying rides. Interesting anecdote, Tivoli was one of the inspirations for Disney World.
walking tour plus shopping plus tivoli = very sore feet.
Wednesday & Thursday
So Wednesday, I turned in my text books!
Anne, my criminology teacher invited our class to come to Cafe Exit for coffee and chatting. Cafe Exit is a cafe run mostly by ex convicts, and the intentions of this cafe is to help employ those who may have trouble finding jobs after prison. Cafe Exit also sells artwork made by prisoners-and donates the money made towards buying more art supplies for the prisons. So I went with some other students to drink tea and talk with Anne, and ended up buying a painting-probably one of the most meaningful souvenirs I’ve ever bought myself.
I also bought this little hippo, which will forever remind me of my lovely home in Roskilde.
Wednesday was also the day that Molly and I worked up the nerve to go to the piercing shop right down from DIS. I pierced my tragus. I am sorry parents, but it is very subtle! The man who pierced us may have had horn implants on his head, but he was so sweet and gentle, making it a very comfortable piercing experience.
From there I hopped back on a train to Roskilde, bringing Grace with to have dinner with Jakob and Kristina. We had a really nice time chatting, and I was glad to be able to share them with one more friend before leaving. They really love having company and meeting new people.
Grace and Molly slept over so that we could have a Roskilde day on Thursday. It was sunny, rainy, sometimes hailing, and really windy. We went to the viking museum which I have walked around so many times, but have never actually been inside. We also went to the harbor where we discovered tons of jellyfish, walked through the old neighborhoods, and Molly and I introduce Grace to the best Kebab and Shwarma place in all of Denmark.
I did a lot of packing that night, and met Grace and Enrique for one last visit to my favorite bar in Copenhagen, Cafe Intime.
Things that I don’t want to do:
leave. pack. spend near 14 hours in airports and on planes. say my final good bye, to Jakob and Kristina.
Things that I DO want to do:
hug my mom and dad. hug my boyfriend. squeal with my friends. snuggle my dog.
I have much to write about in regards to my last week in Denmark. so I’ll probably keep updating this blog for another few days. I can’t wait to look back on this when I’m feeling homesick for Denmark. I want to keep these memories fresh.
Tuesday.
I have been a bad blogger, emailer, and skyper this past week. Life gets really busy the last two weeks of your study abroad. Between papers, exams, and packing…there is of course seeing everything you haven’t yet seen, re-seeing the important stuff, and seeing “your people” as much as possible. I think I’m in denial that I’m leaving on Sunday. So, instead of feeling sad this week, I’ve just been feeling hugely happy and have been really enjoying the days crammed full of adventures, people, coffee, and hygge.
Tuesday was the beginning of my wonderfully packed week. I guess it’s only Thursday. Anyway.
Tuesday I woke up early to get into Copenhagen to go birthday gift shopping for Molly (a month late, oops) with Grace. We started out with coffee and pastries from St Peter’s bakery of course, before going into too many amazing shops.
Next up, meet for coffee and story time with Hannah. I brought her to my fabulous Thé á La Menthe for some tea, and then she brought me to the only Italian Gelatto shop in Copenhagen, for some realllly good tiramisu gelatto which we ate in a beautiful park, with a cool playground (of course).
This is a slide!!!
ayiyi, will I see Hannah again before I leave?!
Despite the wind, it was sunny and gorgeous outside, so I met my friend Deirdre and we walked to Copenhagen’s botanical gardens. They have outside gardens as well as a greenhouse. We got to the greenhouse like 10 minutes before it closed, so that was slightly unfortunate because it was composed of three different rooms with three different climates, and we only made it into the first two. We made up for that bit of sadness by leaving the gardens for the wonderful glass market where we wandered around, contemplating gifts, and eating free samples of all kinds of things-cheese, hummus, pesto, bread, chocolate, and licorice.
Next I left that part of Copenhagen to cook dinner with some friends in Vesterbro. Grace, Molly, Enrique and I took over our Danish friend Iason’s house to cook some good american “breakfast for dinner.” We made pancakes, bacon, sausage and mimosas, and Iason made us mint chocolate chip milkshakes. That wasn’t particularly in theme, but sooo good. Interesting fact. Sometimes Danes cut ice cream into slices with a knife, almost as if slicing bread. Another interesting fact: you can apparently buy pre-made american pancakes in grocery stores here.
We found these while getting ingredients for homemade pancakes.
This was a fun cozy evening that consisted of too many cooks in a small kitchen, some reminiscing, a realllly long group hug, and some of the strangest music videos ever. I didn’t think that I would get to see Iason again before leaving, but I’ve just been informed that I shall see him Saturday morning for “crying breakfast.” Depressing.
From dinner we went to a dance club and pretty much just danced all night, seeing a myriad of people that we knew from pretty much every class, friends of friends, etc. It was a really wonderful last Tuesday in Denmark.
I have to do some packing now, so the rest of the week shall follow tomorrow and Saturday.
but before I pack…two full days left in Denmark.
Two Things I’ll Miss about Denmark/DIS (no order):
1) Elder-flower flavored everything.
2) The money system (not the prices, mind you). Prices are rounded to either .00 or .50. No pennies/nickels/dimes/quarters equivalents. A 50 cent piece equivalent only!
3 things I’ll miss about Denmark/DIS (no order guys):
1) My DIS friends making fun of how I say “Bag.”
2) Talking about cultural differences with Danes-surprising people when I’m not the “typical” American.
3) How little I rely on my cell phone here.
Whoops, got too busy yesterday. ps: as of 37 minutes ago, I am DONE.
Will not be sleeping the next few days-that’s what the plane and the first days back are for.
4 more full days left.
Four Things that I’ll Miss about Denmark/DIS (In no particular order):
1) My very modern house in Roskilde with all of it’s ‘designer’ appliances.
2) All of the wonderful creative Danish design stools and chairs.
3) Open faced sandwiches!!
4) The whole “say yes to adventure” mentality. I guess this is something that should be brought back with me to Minneapolis.
Oh yeah, gotta stick to routine:
5 more full days left.
Five Things that I’ll Miss about Denmark/DIS (In no particular order):
1) All of the wonderful street musicians that are out every day.
2) How clean the air is.
3) European sized portions in restaurants-the perfect amount, rarely too much.
4) How it isn’t weird to bike in high heels and dresses.
5) How low the gender wage gap is in comparison to the US.
