Chelsea Soccer vs FCK (Copenhagen)

No!!! Come On!!! What are you doing?!?  Why are you going that way?!? Go Go Go!!!

Only some of the words being yelled around the common room right now as the Chelsea vs FC Copenhagen soccer (excuse me football) is underway in the first half. Sitting at the edge of our seats and shouting, my fellow floor mates and I cheer for our respective team. As the first half is underway Copenhagen is down with a score of 0-1. Chelsea has been having a lot of possession of the ball. Oh no Chelsea is getting close to the goal. ”Where are his teammates?!?”  has just been shouted.  Sadly, the game isn’t looking too good right now for Copenhagen. 

The second half is underway. Chelsea is up 0-2. Wow these refs don’t know how to make any calls. A player from Copenhagen just got fouled, but of course there was no call. Twenty minutes left in the game, the intensity in the game and in the common room has just been heightened. Come on Copenhagen get your act together there is less than 20 minutes left in the game. All they need to do is score at least 1 so they don’t lose by 2 points. What a sad game. Copenhagen gets procession of the ball, but is unable to make it into the net. Come on Copenhagen!! “You are ruining our evening” was just shouted…clearly a frustrating game for us in the common room. Last seconds of the game “SHOOT”!!!!!! Well, that’s the end of the game…Copenhagen lost by 2. Many sad/frustrated people in the common room right now.

Random shouts

“Chelsea is not the children of God. Sons of the Devil”

“You are ugly”

Adventures in Berlin

This weekend I traveled to the awesome city of Berlin with some friends (Ari, Alex, Claire, and Eli) from my floor. My friend Liz, who is currently studying abroad in Budapest, met us at the airport on Friday. It was so surreal to see Liz in Berlin rather than in Bloomington. For the most part, everything went smoothly…well besides the fact that I thought like I was missing something or lost something, such as my Danish transportation pass, almost every minute. Of course there was the feeling of burning through cash. The way I look at this trip is it's a learning experience for my trips to come. Either way, Berlin was wonderful.

Friday evening we left to catch our flight. We arrived in Berlin around 10:30pm and made our way to the Wombat Hostel. We were given instructions on how to get there so we thought “oh hey these instructions should be helpful.” When we got to the train area, we quickly found out they were not clear. Trying to get to the hostel was definitely an adventure. First, we stood in line to get tickets for the train for about 40 some minutes since the people ahead of us kept having problems. Although I can’t complain because the couple ahead of us bought 3 extra tickets and handed them to Ari, Liz and I for free. (each ticket was about 3 Euro). Nice way to start the trip. As we headed toward the train platforms, we couldn’t find the one we needed so we decided to ask the German security guards. They didn't speak English well so it wasn’t as helpful. So we decided to wing it. Finally at 1:30am we made it to the hostel, only after being in Berlin since 11pm. 

Saturday morning we went on the free New Berlin walking tour of the city. We saw all the major sites, such as the Branenburg Gate, the most expensive hotel in Berlin (the one Michael Jackson dangled his child Blanket over the balcony), The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, The Berlin Wall, The Former SS Headquarters,  Checkpoint  Charlie and Museum Island.  After the tour we went to the Pergamon Museum and the Neues Museum, which consisted mainly of ancient Roman and Egyptian items. The museums were okay, but the most interesting item there was Queen Nerfertiti's Bust, which is 3300 years old, and the Pergamon Altar, built by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. Although one of the best things that happened was us getting into both museums for free because Eli sweet-talked the ticket people into believing we were a school group. After the museums we went to this amazing restaurant, Weinhenstephan, to eat traditional German food. The food I ordered was DELICIOUS!!! It was pork, with the restaurant’s homemade beer sauce, potato dumplings, and cracklin’ fresh. After our dinner we went back to the hostel to rest before going out for the night. 

On Saturday, Liz, Ari and I went on a tour of the concentration camp, Sachsenhausen. On our way to the camp we made the same walk the prisoners had to make to Sachsenhausen. The camp was surrounded by homes. When the prisoners were taken to the camp, the neighborhood was told the prisoners were going to the camp because they needed sport and work to fix them. The camp was used by the Nazi's from 1936 to 1945 and then by the Soviets until 1950, which made it one of the camps used the longest. During its use, about 200,000 people passed through the camp. Originally the camp was used for political prisoners, but other groups (criminals, homosexuals, gypsies and Jews) came later. The Nazi's used Sachsenhausen as their model concentration camp, ran medical experiments, and also used it as center to counterfeit American dollars and the British pound. It is estimated that 35,000 and 69,000 people were murdered there. During our tour we saw bunkers, the lookout tower, several mass graves, and the shooting range. Sunday evening our group went to the last night of the Berlin International Film Festival, which was located in Potsdamer Platz. We saw a screening of the award winning Spanish film Even the Rain. The movie was about a director filming a movie during the 2000 water crisis in Bolivia. The movie was excellent! After the movie we saw 5 short films. 

Monday - Our last day in Berlin. Since Liz had an earlier flight, she left us after our relaxing breakfast. The rest of us made our way to the East Berlin wall. After that we went to the Topography of Terror Nazi history museum. It is located in Niederkirchnerstrasse, formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS, the principal instruments of repression during the Nazi era. The museum showed the Holocaust from the perspective of the Nazis. The museum was all photos and documents. After the museum, Ari and I went to the chocolate store, Fassbender & Rausch. The store was amazing!! Inside were chocolate sculptures of Reichstag, Branenburg Gate, and a chocolate volcano. Along with the sculptures there was a 55ft long buffet of chocolates! I couldn’t resist all the chocolate so of course I had to buy some! Ari and I walked around a little before we had to go back to the hostel to begin our trip home. The adventure how was interesting. As my friends and I were walking from the trains to the airport, I had my head turned talking to my friends instead of looking straight. Because of this, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going. As I was walking, I was abruptly stopped. Apparently I was going to get in a woman's way so instead of walking an inch to the side she stopped put her arm out and shoved me in my shoulder. My friends and I laughed and couldn't believe she just couldn't walk an inch over. Our time at airport security was so funny. Our friend Eli carries around his mascot for his school, which is a geoduck. When he was going through security, the guards confiscated the geoduck. As we were watching the guards they were smelling the geoduck, swinging it around like it could be used as a weapon, and one was putting lotion on his hands so he could inspect it. The guards even put the geoduck through the scanner. Eventually they let Eli have it back once he explained it was his school mascot.

This trip was my second time visiting Berlin (first time in 2007). Going back for the second time was a different experience. The first time we spent a lot of time on a bus seeing the sites. This time around it was nice to see some of the same sites from a different perspective and have more time in the city. I really enjoyed going back to Berlin. 

By the end of the trip I realized how much I love Copenhagen. I was even missing the city..clearly a sign how Copenhagen has made itself my home.

Random Observations:

• Musicians love to sing/play on the train. One time late at night there was a man playing a guitar and another playing the saxophone. Another time a girl and a guy got on the metro and sung a song about drinking vodka.
• Teenagers love to hangout in the metro/train station at night
• Many people bring their dogs on the train or into stores
• Germans love the rocker style

In Love

As the month of February comes to an end, the realization that I’ve been in Copenhagen for a month dawns on me. Many days I think about how quickly the time has gone by, which scares me because of how many things I want to see and do while being here. After being here for one month I can say one thing with the utmost confidence…I love Copenhagen. Yes, the weather is cold, but not as cold as Northwest Indiana. Yes, the sun is barely out, but the days are starting to get longer. While there are downsides of Copenhagen (every city has them), my love for Copenhagen won’t dwindle. I love how Copenhagen isn’t a touristy city. As you walk down the cobblestone streets you won’t be stuck in a swarm of people trying to find a building or find the streets lined with trash. Instead you walk around the surprising small city admiring the architectural features of well-preserved buildings and old world charm while taking in the heavenly smell of the many bakeries adorning almost every corner. The thought of leaving Copenhagen and going back to houses that all look the same, having to drive everywhere, and dirty streets saddens me. For the time being, I will live my life in the charming city of Copenhagen and continue accepting Copenhagen for its differences

Cell Phone: Text messages here are called SMS. QWERTY doesn’t exist on my cheap phone so it’s back to the days of T9. Europe cell phone plans aren’t the same. I am charged for every text and call I send. The price depends on the carrier and the location of the person I am calling and texting. The good thing is I do get free incoming calls and texts. 

Danish keyboard: The first time I used a Danish keyboard I encountered a few challenges. For the most part the keys are in similar spots expect the incorporation of 3 extra letters. The trickiest part was trying to figure out how to get the @ symbol to work. Since the keyboard has the Alt button, you would think to press Alt 2 to get the symbol. When I first did that I got a menu. But using the strange Alt Gr button in combination with the 2 button will get you the @ sign. It was funny the first few weeks seeing everyone ask how do you get the @ symbol to work.

Buttons to open the door: Now buttons to open the door may not seem like a big deal, but it’s a little strange to have a button to open the door from the inside. At our school if we want to leave the computer lab or the floor to go to the stairs we have to press a little white button and then use the door handle. At my housing, we also have to press a door button before the door will open. 

Night bus: At 1am the normal bus shift ends, which means instead of catching a bus home every 10 minutes, I have to wait 1 hour. Trying to time when you leave a bar to the schedule of the night bus can be a little tricky at times since the time depends on your location. 

Prices: 35 for a pastry?! Oh wait that’s in kroner so $7. At first, it took some time getting used to high numbers for small items. Now diving everything by 5 has become a normal occurrence. But, items are still expensive. 

Music: The Danes love our Top 40 Music! Many days I have walked into clothing stores on Strøget and heard Michael Jackson. For a while, the song “Black and Yellow” was everywhere. I remember when my visiting dad took me home, we listened to the song in the car. Every once in a while Backstreet Boys, N*Sync or Aqua will come on. Random Fact: the band Aqua originated from Copenhagen. 

Squeegee: By the end of the 4 months I will be a pro at squeegeeing floors. As a part of my daily routine I have to squeegee my bathroom floor since my entire bathroom floods due to the fact the shower is free standing. 

Yogurt: When you think about buying yogurt the thought of purchasing it in a milk carton wouldn’t cross your mind in the states, but if you are living the Danish way yogurt comes in milk cartons. Even the texture of the yogurt is different. I would compare it to being less thick then the yogurt I eat at home but thicker than a smoothie. Either way the yogurt is delicious and relatively cheap (about $2 for quart).

Dijon mustard: 2 words: abnormally spicy. The first time I made a sandwich, I wasn’t aware of this fact so I put a generous amount on both sides…not good.

Shawarma: Shawarma stands are all over the place. But I guess it’s a good thing for a college student on a budget since they are relatively cheap. Plus, they are delicious!

Hot dogs: Hot dog stands are everywhere! Hot dogs are so popular here that for the no food sign on the bus it’s a hot dog instead of the burger and fries we would see in America.

Tzatziki sauce: The Danes love their tzatziki sauce and they put it on almost everything. For a burrito, tzatziki sauce is put on it instead of the dressings we usually put on them.

Cucumbers: On everything! The other day my friends and I went to get lunch and there were cucumbers on our burgers. 

Gummy Candy: Beware gummy candies in Denmark are not as chewy as the ones in the states.

Excursion Around the City...Part 2

In order to complete my Copenhagen History homework, I spent another two days exploring my new home. With my camera and autoguide in hand I ventured off to more of Copenhagen’s well known sites. 

 

One of my visits was to Trinitatis Kirke/Trinity Church and Rundetårn/ Round tower. 

The Round Tower is an unique building in European architecture. There is a 660 foot winding arched access ramp that takes you up to the very top. During my adventure to Rundetårn, I went to the top to observe the city. Of course, I went on an extremely windy day, but the view was amazing. I loved being able to see the whole city. I plan on trying to go back up when Spring comes.

Another stop on my adventure was Gråbrødre Torv/Greyfiar's Square. This square is considered one of Copenhagen's most beautiful squares. Many restaurants and bars surround the area. Once the weather gets nicer, I plan to revisit the square. 

Helligåndskirken/Church of the Holy Spirit was another site I was assigned to visit. The church once housed the first hospital in Copenhagen, which was founded in 1295. In 1474 King Christian I expanded the hospital into a four-winged monastery.

The picture to the left is of Amagertor and Højbro Plads/Amager Market and High Bridge Square. During the medieval ages, Amagertor was the site for the market where people would sell vegetables. Højbro Plads is a relatively new square. After the great fire of 1795, the site was left open as a fire protection strip. 

 

This site is known as Kongens Nytorv/King's Square. The statute in the square is of King Christian V, which was the first equestrian statute in Copenhagen. Around the square are several prominent buildings, such as Charlottenborg (one of the very first castles in Copenhagen), Thott Mansion, Harsdoff House, and the Royal Theater. 

As my friend and I were walking around this area, architects were uncovering parts of the medieval wall that once was the fortress protecting the city. 

Another stop on my assignment was Christiansborg Slotplads/Christiansborg Palace Square. This location is known as the very beginning of Copenhagen. Christiansborg Palace has burnt down twice. The current palace was built in 1928. 

Also during the assignment I had to look at the buildings surround the area, such as Bourse and the Naval Church.

 

Another stop assciated with Christianborg Palace was the Library Garden. The garden was very nice and I can't wait to go back in Spring.

Combined with Christiansbog Palace is Ridebanen/Riding Grounds. In the past, the wings were used as stables. Today, only a few of the wings are used as stables.

One of my favorite stops for the assignment was to Rosenborg Slot/Castle and Kongens Have/Royal Garden. The Royal Garden here is the oldest Royal Garden in Denmark. Rosenborg became Christian IV's favorite home. 

I wasn't able to go in the castle at the time, but visiting at later date is a must. The castle houses the Danish royal jewels, artifacts from various reigns and a magnificent hall.

One of the most well known, if not the most, sites is Nyhavn/New Harbor. Nyhavn was built in 1669. Since the harbor has never suffered a fire, Nyhavn preserves many of the houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. At one point in time, Hans Christian Anderson lived at Nyhavn 67. Once the weather is nicer, I place on making many stops to Nyhavn to sit at the edge of the harbor and admire the nice weather.

Short Study Tour - Western Denmark

Thursday, February 3^rd

I left for my short study tour, which is for our program’s core course. My core class is my European Business Strategy class. Our class had to meet that morning at Frue Plads at 8:30, which turned into a problem. The day before we had to leave, we received an email from DIS saying there is a possibility of a bus strike, always a great thing to hear. As my friends and I were leaving that morning we looked to see if we would see a bus going past. Since we saw a bus we thought we were in the clear, little did we know we weren’t. As we got to our normal bus stop we looked to see when our bus (the 14) was going to show up. We saw it would be there shortly so we let the 1A bus go. Thankfully, a nice-old Danish man told us the 1A bus was the only bus running. A few minutes later we caught a bus to take us semi-close to where we needed to be. With our bags in hand we walked a distance to our meeting place. Let me tell you walking in heels on cobblestone streets and my ability to walk in general made that walk feel twice as long as it should. Thankfully we made it to our meeting place to go to Coloplast, our first company for the tour. At Coloplast we received a lecture from 10-noon and a free lunch. The lecture was really interesting. We got to see some of their major products, learn about the company’s values, stories about how the company lives up to its values, and how the company achieves its short term goals. After our presentation we had a 3 hour drive to Skanderborg, which is on the island Jutland. During our drive we saw the second largest suspension bridge. By the bridge was a small island. On this island was a building that was formerly the Institute for Overally Sexual Promiscuous Women. Our 3 hour drive led us to the castle Kolding Hus. By the time we got to the castle, we didn’t have much time to look around. We got a guided tour to learn about the history of the castle and the church.

The best thing we saw there was the Beatles Forever exhibit. We got to see clothing, what a bedroom looked like, posters, magazines and other stuff from the era of The Beatles. We also saw pictures of the Beatles during events, clothing and other items that had The Beatles on it. After our time at the castle, we headed to our hostel for dinner and socializing. 

 

Friday, February 4^th

For the second day of our study tour, we got to visit the company Vestas. When we walked into the presentation room, the company had bags of free stuff for each one of us. YAY!! Got to love free stuff! The presentation was very interesting. Our presenters discussed with us how Vestas used to be focused on winning and profits. In the past, companies would call Vestas saying it would like to order a turnbine. Now Vestas has found itself getting into trouble with is nothing but winning and profits strategy. (I could have told them that…thank you Kelley School of Business for teaching the importance of customers) In order to overcome its difficulties the company has changed its strategy to customer focus. After our presentation was over we had a quick bus ride to downtown Århus where we had lunch and time to explore the city. Århus was a small, but adorable city! 

After walking around for a few hours, my friends and I met the rest of the class at the ARoS Museum. What to say about ARoS? I sit here pondering with the words interesting, strange, freaky, weird and amusing crossing my mind. I suppose all those words describe the experience of ARoS. Our group received a guided tour. Our tour guide started us off with paintings, which was by far the most normal exhibit there. Next we got to see the infamous boy statue named BOY. 

 The temporary exhibit is where things got interesting. The first piece was saw was a sculpture of a baby made out of nothing but margarine. This sculpture has been well preserved for years because of the ingredients in margarine…kind of disgusting to think we eat it…definitely reconsidering eating margarine again. As we were about to go in the next room our tour guide asked if we would want to see it because an earlier DIS group had a student faint. Once we said that our group looked around and had an expression of “what the hell is in this room?” Well this room contained some grotesque sculptures. There were statues of people cut open, Michael Jackson with no head and using his head to give himself head, people covered in blankets, Mickey Mouse’s exploding, Jesus (made out of silicon) all cut up and blooding (but was really a self deception of the artist), a man giving anal to a corpse with only half a body. Strange, very strange. After our guided tour we had time to look around ourselves. Thankfully, the exhibits did not get any stranger. After ARoS was the hostel, and then a night out on the town.

Saturday, February 5^th

The last day of our study tour of course would not be complete without a 3 hour bus drive. As we were leaving one of our trip leaders announced that he brought medication for headaches because he knew we wanted to go out. As we walked down the bus he would ask people who wanted the medication if they wanted to sleep or not to sleep. When he asked people this we just laughed. After our drive we arrived at our location, which consisted of the café we were eating at, Gavnø Slot (Castle) and Føniks Slotsryggeri (Castle Brewery). We received a guided tour of Gavnø Slot (Castle), which really shouldn’t be called a castle because it’s basically a mansion. 

After our tour we went over to the brewery for a tour of their brewing process and a taste test of 6 of their beers. Once we finished our session at the brewery we made our way to home sweet Copenhagen.

I had an amazing time on the study tour! It was a great chance for our class to get to know each other, plus we have a really great group of people. I can’t wait for our week long trip to London in March!