A Danish Christmas!

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

I had a very pleasant flight from Paris to Copenhagen on the 24th. I was so tired that I didn't even know the plane took off! I woke up wondering when we would depart and then I noticed the clouds outside the window. Air France is definitely a nice upgrade from the low budget airlines I've been flying! From the airport I took the train to Karlslunde, Denmark and was picked up by Kenneth (the dad of the family I went to visit).

It was good to see the Boserups again as I had not been to their home since my mom visited back in August. I caught up with them, watched some TV, and then took a nap before dinner. When I woke up we had dinner which consisted of: Duck, a roast, regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, cabbage salad, and wine! We then had this rice pudding-like dessert with strawberry topping. It was somewhat of a game since there was one whole almond in the dessert somewhere and whoever happened to find it while eating won a prize (a box of chocolates). Anton, one of two children in the family, found the almond. After dinner we sang Danish Christmas tunes (and 1 American one that I chose- Winter Wonderland) and walked around the Christmas tree. After that the opening of presents began...Anton & Alma sure had a lot! The family gave me an Adidas Jersey from the Danish National Soccer team! Its pretty cool. I took them all some gifts too as a thank you for allowing me to spend Christmas with them!

After dinner/dessert we skyped my parents and some family friends. I was pretty tired so I ended up in bed by 11:30PM...an early record for me! Woke up around 10-11 the next morning, had a small breakfast, watched some TV, and then had a lunchtime smörgåsbord (a meal with many different items laid out so you can create what you want). Kenneth had to go to work around 2:45 so I went with him to the train station to make my way back to Lund. It is good to be back here since I've been away for half a month traveling! Though, at this point it'd be nice to be home since school starts soon and most all the other UC students are back.

Anyways...still have 1 paper to write before I leave. Also made a list of food places I want to visit one last time while here. A few other students are left so I'll try to visit with them. May visit Copenhagen for New Years, we'll see. The countdown is on though, I leave Jan. 5! If I don't blog again, have a great New Years! I included some pictures from Christmas below. :-)

The Family! From Left to Right: Anton, Jane's Mom, Jane, Alma, Kenneth, Me

Jane helping Anton with his new safe he got for Christmas!

Alma after opening one of her presents...

Anton looking on as his dad, Kenneth, opens one of his gifts...a new dress shirt!

Jane watching the kids open gifts.

Alma reveals one of her many cool Christmas presents.

Alma eagerly unwrapping one of her gifts.

My present :-) A Danish National soccer jersey!

The Christmas tree with presents below!

The dinner table before we sat down to eat.

Last Night in Paris, France!

Its been an interesting trip so far. Lots of sight seen, stolen money, fun nights out with friends. More details to come later. Tomorrow morning I head to the airport and then to Copenhagen before going to our Danish family friends house in Karlslunde, Denmark for Christmas! Then its another 9 days or so in Sweden before coming home. Time flies! See you all soon!

Madrid, Spain!

In an internet cafe in the center of Madrid right now! Waiting on my friends to arrive. I took an earlier plane from Marrakech this morning and have explored the city all day. Its been fun! Morocco was awesome and went by way too quickly. We have a short stay in Madrid, as we all leave the airport early tomorrow morning. My friends will go to London before heading back to Lund, and I well head down to Granada, Spain to visit a friend studying there. From there its off to Milan and Paris! Keeping this brief, must head back out to Puerta del Sol (the main square in Madrid) in a few minutes!

Barcelona, Spain!

Hey everyone, I´m writing from our hostel in Barcelona right now! It´s around 230AM and we had anticipated going out tonight but looks like we wont since my friends fell asleep. The nightlife here picks up around 2AM. Today was awesome. We walked around much of the city and saw all of Gaudi´s most famous architecture. Last night we visited the famous La Ramblas boulevard. We have had some good Spanish food while here too. Tomorrow morning we will head down to the beach area here before taking a bus to an airport a bit outside the city to catch our flight to Marrakech, Morocco! It has been great using some Spanish here...it definitely comes back to you when you need it! Barcelona has been amazing and is a place you could spend much longer than the approx 2 days we have. It is definitely a place I look forward to visiting in the future, particularly its beautiful coastal beachs and its great nightlife scene. Going to head to bed now I suppose...will try to update this more! Below are some pictures from our first two days here!

Happy Thanksgiving! / Helsingor, Denmark pictures!

Hey All- Happy Thanksgiving! I know its a bit early back home, but still...I'm tryin to get in the mood since the Swedes don't celebrate it! My friend Ghazal and I organized a big Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow with a bunch of the UC kids and a few others...its going to be potluck style so everyone will be bringing things. We expect around 30 or so! Ghazal & I are waking up to the early task of cooking a turkey (among other things...). Saturday we have the official EAP Thanksgiving dinner as organized by the EAP program. It will be held at the Grand Hotel here in Lund so it should be pretty fun!

After this dinner later tonight I really gotta get workin' on a 10 page paper on the democratization of Czechoslovakia due Monday. I've put it off for awhile and it's time to face the music. In other class related news, I dropped my Human Rights course today since it has continued to overlap with another class and would be too much work. That leaves me with 4 total classes I would have completed here which is still probably 1 more than I will be able to use back home. Last Friday I presented a short powerpoint in my Global Environmental Justice class on the consequences of climate change in Bolivia. This coming Wednesday, for the same class, we have organized into groups to simulate the COP-15 (climate change) Conference that will be happening in Copenhagen, December 7-18. It is going to be a big event that President Obama will be attending around the 9th. I am part of a group representing OPEC (oil-producing countries) so that will be quite interesting. For my Scandinavian Models of Equality class I will be taking part in a seminar with my group on December 8th when we explore the debates surrounding assistant reproduction when it comes to infertile and lesbian women. Another interesting topic. I will also be writing a research paper for the class on a similar topic, comparing the various views of Sweden and the United States.

Last Saturday I went with my friends Ming & Sara to visit Helsingor, Denmark and Hamlet's Castle. We began by spending some time in Helsingborg (Sweden) at a bakery we had been to before. They have the best princess cake there, which for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, is pretty much the best dessert ever! From there we took the 25 minute ferry across to Denmark where we spent a couple hours. Below are some pictures from our day (in no particular order).

Time is sure flying by. I am approaching the 4 month mark of my stay, meaning I only have 1 more month to go. I return January 5th. Sweden has been amazing and so have the other countries I have been able to visit. It looks like my friends and I have one more trip planned. In December we will travel to Barcelona & Madrid, Spain and Marrakesh, Morocco and then I will continue a few days and visit a friend in Granada, Spain before heading over to Milan and Rome, Italy! More info on this to come later...goodnight everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!

The Helsingborg (Sweden) City Hall building with a cool statue in front!

Hamlet's Castle in Helsingør, Denmark! Also known as Kronborg Castle.

Helsingborg, Sweden at sunset.

Part of the moat surrounding Kronborg Castle.

Sara & I on top of Helsingborg Castle.

On top of Helsingborg Castle with a view of the city behind me.

The amazing princess cake! It's sooooooooo good!

Part of the moat surrounding Kronborg Castle...its so colorful!

Despite the cranes, this picture of the sunset in Helsingor is still nice!

We found this cool orange-colored building outside the castle in Denmark!

With Ming & Sara outside Kronborg Castle in Helsingor, Denmark. You can see Sweden in the background.

Kronborg ("Hamlet's") Castle! Some birds had just landed in the water causing those cool lookin' ripples!

With Sara & Ming outside Kronborg Castle.

On the train to Helsingborg!

Last Day in Berlin, Germany & Pictures

My friends and I were up over 24 hours until returning to Lund this morning (Thurs. 11/12) around 9am. We woke up Wednesday for our final day in the city. We visited a statue of Karl Marx before heading over to the German Parliament Building, the Reichstag. After this the few of us met up with our other friends in front of the Brandenburg Gate before heading to dinner. We ate at a very good Vietnamese restaurant. Because our flight left so early in the morning (7am meaning we had to be there around 4:45-5), we didn't book a hostel but rather decided to stay out and enjoy the German nightlife the entire night. So after dinner we went on a pub crawl that covered 4 different bars and a club which was called Matrix. The bars/pubs were okay but the club was amazing...one of my favorite ones ever. It was huge and had many different rooms. One had popular oldies, another had more contemporary remixed/electro pop, and my favorite was a combination between trance, techno, house, and electro.

Our night out lasted from 8:30pm until 3:30am at which point we took the train to Berlin Schonefeld airport and eventually landed in Copenhagen before taking the train back to Lund. I slept from around 9:30am until 5pm meaning it was completely dark when I woke up. It was an amazing 3+ days. Being at Monday's Festival of Freedom was incredible and historic. Hillary's speech was great and Bon Jovi's performance was uplifting. Berlin has been one of my favorite cities so far and I look forward to going back someday. Below are pictures from the trip beginning with the most recent and ending with the first day (I borrowed a few of them from a friend).

Welcome to Berlin! (a sign inside one of the train stations)

The party group on Wednesday night inside Club Matrix.

Inside of Club Matrix in my favorite room!

"Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" -Ronald Reagan
(Gorbachev was at Monday's events)

A nighttime view of the Brandenburg Gate.

Just over 20 years ago Ghazal & I would be divided by the Berlin Wall in this picture. The brick line on the ground between us marks the former path of the wall. In the background you can see the Brandenburg Gate.

On top of the Reichstag building.

Inside the glass dome on top of the Reichstag building (German Parliament is below glass).

In the dome on the top of the Reichstag building.

In front of the German Parliament building, the Reichstag.

Inside a chocolate store in Berlin...here is the Brandenburg Gate made entirely out of chocolate!

A memorial beneath the ground in front of Humboldt University for the censorship and burning of books that once occurred at the school.

Ghazal, Alex, Jasmine & I in front of the TV Tower and Berlin Cathedral.

A closer view.

Chillin' with Karl Marx & Frederick Engels!

Group shot in front of the Berlin Wall!

(this is part of the longest stretch & was recently repainted)

This was an interesting picture on the Berlin Wall...

One of the panels of the Berlin Wall...it reads "Stay Free"
(note the tubing on the top of the wall...this was used to make it harder for people to escape since it was hard to grasp on to).

In front of the Berlin Wall in Germany.

Group picture at dinner inside the White Trash Fast Food Restaurant in Berlin.

A night view of the Berlin Cathedral and TV Tower.

In a square in front of Humboldt University (this was during our guided tour).

Checkpoint Charlie, which our guide said has become "Disneylandish".

Former site of the Gestapo (Berlin Wall behind).

Ghazal, Jasmine, & I in front of the Berlin Wall.

Below the ground where the cars are parked used to be one of Hitler's bunkers. This is the one where he committed suicide.

Between the concrete blocks making up the Holocaust Memorial.

Hotel Adlon! This is the priciest hotel in Berlin. It is directly across from the Brandenburg Gate. A Presidential Suite in the hotel, with bomb-proof walls and bullet-proof glass, costs around $18,000 per night. This hotel (and a room on this side) is also the one in which Michael Jackson held a baby out the window in 2002.

Fireworks at the end of Berlin's Festival of Freedom marking the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The fireworks came after Paul Van Dyk's song "We are One".

Brandenburg Gate during the Festival of Freedom.

Bon Jovi rocked the crowd with "We Weren't Born to Follow"!

Amongst the crowd in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.

President Obama can be seen on the TV screen addressing the crowd via a video message.

Secretary of State Clinton! She gave a great speech. To her left is Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The Brandenburg Gate lit up at night while you can see the masses of people with umbrellas. It rained throughout most of the event.

Group shot in front of the Brandenburg Gate before the Festival of Freedom. From L to R: Khash, Vincent, Me, Jennifer, Ghazal, Jasmine, Clark, Alex.

The dominos that would be knocked over during the ceremony.

One of the dominos for the knocking over of the wall...this one commemorates the MTV music awards which were held in Berlin just days earlier. The big stars of the evening signed this domino.

A line of dominos for the Festival of Freedom. It was quite a sight seeing them all fall over.

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin known as The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Ghazal, Jasmine, Alex & I in front of the Brandenburg Gate during our first day in Berlin, Germany.