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.

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!

Denmark v. Portugal

Last night I met up in Copenhagen with a Danish family that I know to go to the Denmark v. Portugal World Cup Qualifying Match at Parken Stadium. Train ride over went nice and then the weather went bad! It was raining, cold, and very windy in Copenhagen. We had plans to go to a restaurant but everything in town was packed so we hit up this chicken sandwich join that was actually pretty good. I got a pesto-flavored chicken sandwich and warm mashed up potatoes. From here we headed over to the stadium for the game beginning at 8PM. We stopped by the gift store first and I got a couple scarves that say "Danmark" on them =]

The atmosphere and intensity was at a HIGH! Fans outside we're going nuts. At one point the team bus with the players drove by us and people just erupted. The Danes (and I'm sure all other country's fans) take their football seriously! Once we got inside we found our seats which were pretty good ones. The National Anthem was definitely a big site of nationalism. People we're singing it everywhere while waving Danish flags in the air. The first half had a LOT of incredible saves by the Danish goalie, who was supposedly their 2nd backup behind their starter, but for various reasons the starter and first back up couldn't play. Turns out 62% of the fans or so thought he was the player of the game in the end. The Danes scored with about 5 minutes left in the first half...the fans went pretty crazy. The second half remained 1-0 Denmark until about 6 minutes left, when Portugal scored...it ended in a 1-1 draw. I'm definitely not used to seeing sporting games ending in a tie...but it was a very fun and eventful night nonetheless.

I took a few pictures of this Cristiano Ronaldo player (#7) who plays for Portugal and is among the few top players in the world...

Coming back from the game was just disastrous. I tried buying a ticket in Copenhagen but the only machine that would let me buy a ticket for Lund wouldn't accept my card and would only take coins, which I didn't have. All the shops and booths were closed and the family I was with had left. I had a Eurail Pass but really did not want to waste a whole day for such a short trip. I got on the train anyways, told the guy I had tried buying one and that I didn't want to waste my pass, so he said he'd come back to me but he never did =] I ended up getting to Malmo for free and bought a short train ticket back to Lund. 3 + hours after the game ended I was finally back in my room!

All the "Danmark" memorabilia in the gift shop!


Danmark v. Portugal!


Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.


The teams taking the field!

All the crazy Portuguese fans.


Danmark and Portugal lining up before the game for the National Anthems.


The crowd went crazzzzyyyy after Danmark scored!


Ronaldo (#7) getting a free kick.


Danmark celebrating after the 1-1 draw. Portugal had really needed this game. Their chances or slim (or 0, I'm not sure). Danmark is leading their group.


RONALDO!

Ronaldo walking off the field after the game.

Copenhagen (among other things)

Haven't written here in over a week so I think I'm about due...I'm currently in a hotel room in Oslo, Norway and should probably head to bed soon, but wanted to follow up with what's happened since I last posted...

The day after my last post visited my mom and her friend who had flown in to Copenhagen and made their way to the Grand Hotel in Lund. That night we walked around town and had a nice meal in one of the town squares. I had a nacho dish, which despite what I heard about Mexican food here, was not too bad. Thursday I went with them, and later met up with some friends, at the Malmo Festival. A few of us watched a band known as The Sounds perform. They were awesome (especially the whole use of cigarettes/wine while singing)!

Late Friday after my last Swedish class, my mom, her friend, and I went to Copenhagen for the weekend. We met up with a family friend named Jane and her family. They live out in the countryside about 30 minutes south of downtown Copenhagen. They are very nice and allowed us to sleep at their home on Friday night. She and her husband Kenneth cooked us a traditional Danish dinner consisting of meatballs, open faced sandwiches, and a whole bunch of other stuff which I'm forgetting right now...In the morning we went to a bakery to buy a lot of Danishes! They were tasty. That day we went to Tivoli Gardens and the theme park. For the first time ever I went on one of those "supreme scream" type rides that go straight up and drop down. I think I'm good for awhile...

The next day we went to a Church Service in Danish...that was nice. Afterwards, we walked over to see the changing of the guard at the Danish Royal Palace. From here we walked along the water down to see the Mermaid Statue. We later took a nice canal tour that took us around the area. We visited Nyhaven which was a very cool part of Copenhagen! It is basically a long street of different restaurants and bars, in different colored buildings, lining the canal. I'll post pictures soon. Soon after this we headed back to Lund, as I had a Swedish test I had not studied for yet.

The following day, on Monday, Aug. 24, we all had our Swedish test. I'm glad this is over...and even more glad I took it Pass/No Pass as opposed to a grade. After this we had registration day at Lund University. It took about an hour and a half of waiting in line to receive a bag of information that really could have just been handed to us. Later in the day I went to visit with our UC Coordinator, Linus Lindgren, who's been very helpful. My classes for the quarter include 4 SAS courses (Scandinavia Areas Study), and possibly some Political Science courses, though I have not been to the office yet.

It was a busy weekend in Copenhagen and the same for Monday with the Swedish test and registration, but it didn't stop there...Monday night we left for Stockholm, then to Estonia, back to Stockholm, and to Norway (where we're at now!). Details on this past week to come...