I AMsterdam

A Friday with no classes meant another weekend to travel around Europe. This weekend's destination: Amsterdam. A group of 7 of us (Ari, Angela, Catherine, Esther, Eric, Alex and I) left Thursday evening to start our weekend trip. After our flight landed around 9pm, we ventured to our hostel. Our hostel was in a great location, about 10 minutes from Central Station, and in the center of Amsterdam. Around 10pm all of us except Ari (she had an earlier flight) made it to Hotel Our Home, the hostel we were staying in. As soon as we opened the door of our hostel, we were greeted by the steepest stairs any of us have seen in a while. Our first was reaction was just to stand there laughing. Eventually, we went to check-in and met Ari. After we were checked in Eric, Esther, Angela, and I went to walk around the area near our hostel. As we were walking, Eric saw a street that had a lot of lights on so we decided to walk down the street. Within a minute, we realized we were in the Red Light District. The street was filled with erotic shops that had videos, costumes, bunnies with penises, and places to watch live porno shows, and of course the women in the windows. As we were near the end of the street, these shop guys said to us, "Girls. American girls like big c***s. We have them. Come licky licky." When they said that we just walked by laughing. After our walk down the Red Light District, we headed back to the hostel.

Friday, March 25th

National Monument in Dam Square

With a busy day ahead of us, we got up early. Before we left, we went downstairs to the kitchen for our home cooked meal: eggs and toast. Afterward, we went on a free 3 and a half hour walking tour. Our tour started at the National Monument in Dam Square. Other sites our tour included were Oude Kerk (The Old Church), The Jewish Quarter, Royal Palace, The Jordaan District, The Dutch East India Company, The Begijnhof Covent, the Widest Bridge and Narrowest House, the tallest point in Amsterdam (1.2 meters about sea level), Nieuwe Kerk (The New Church), numerous canals, and much more. During our tour we were able to get a free sample from a cheese shop since cheese is huge in the Netherlands (Holland). The cheese aged for 2 years and was delicious.

During our tour we learned the following: Oude Kerk (Old Church) is as old as the Red Light District. The location of church in the Red Light District is on purpose because the church sold salvation so they thought the Red Light District was the perfect spot to sell salvation; In the Red Light District the youngest prostitute is 18 years old and the oldest is 82 years old. The 82 year old has a 2 week waiting list. The streets of the Red Light District have the Big Mama street, the Asian street, the pretty girl street and the structural street. Don't take pictures of any of the women. If you take a picture of one woman, all of them will come beat you up; the Royal Palace has been under renovation since 2006 and was expected to end in 2009. Sadly, the plan has not been going well. The palace originally started as a town hall; the houses in Amsterdam lean because they city is built on mud. In order to stop the houses from moving more, pillars have been added into the foundation. 
 

above: The Sin statue outside the Oude Kerk 

right: The group at Begijnhof Covent

in front of 1 of the 1,082 canals in Amsterdam

                                  


After our tour, we went to get lunch in Leidseplein. This square is known as the entertainment square. As we eating lunch, we were able to watch men break dance and an African band perform music and martial art dancing. 

While in the square I couldn't resist trying the traditional frites. Anywhere we walked in Amsterdam, we saw a place to buy frites, which are just french fries in a paper cone with a topping on it. Usually the topping sauce is frite sauce, which is similar to mayonnaise. Although, other toppings are available. I thought the frites were okay. I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce, but what is traveling without experiencing the food culture of the city?

Anne Frank House

Afterward, we went to the Anne Frank House. Seeing the house was surreal. I can't believe 8 people stayed in the Secret Annex for two years. During our tour, we saw actual pieces of the wall that showed the growth of the children, the posters Anne Frank hung on her bedroom wall, the actual toilet from the home, the actual attic still intact, the Oscar awarded to Shelley Winters for her performance in the film The Diary of Anne Frank, and the actual diaries Anne Frank wrote in. It was a great experience to see the house and envision what life was like for the 8 people living in the house. To think that a many pieces in the house are still intact. 

After about an hour and a half in the Anne Frank House, we headed back to the hostel to relax and figure our the rest of the night.


The rest of our night included walking around the main area of Amsterdam. Since Ari, Alex and Catherine didn't see the Red Light District at night, we went back down the street.

Red Light District

Church of St. Nicholas

Saturday, March 26th

My last full day in Amsterdam was another busy day. In the morning, Angela and I met Angela's friend and then went to the Keukenhof Gardens, which are also known as the Garden of Europe. The park is the largest flower garden in the world. According to the Keukenhof website, approximately 7 million flower bulbs are planted in the park, which covers an area of 31 hectares.

The weekend we went was opening weekend so a lot of the flowers didn't bloom yet. Either way the garden was gorgeous. During our 2 and a half hour walk through the garden was saw tons of flowers, swans and a wooden windmill. We also embraced our inner children and went to the kid section of the park. There we enjoyed looking at sheep, bunnies and baby pigs.I really enjoyed my time at the Keukenhof Gardens and I glad I went since the gardens are only open March to May.

After the Keukenoff Gardens, the three of us headed back to Amsterdam to meet up with the rest of the group. Our first stop before we met them was the infamous "I amsterdam" sign. Trying to take a picture with the sign was difficult since so many people were there. Luckily, I was able to get at least one without tons of people.

While waiting for the rest of the group, Angela's friend showed us around the area. We walked around Museumplein (the area with the "I amsterdam" sign), Vondelpark, and Hoofstraat (the street with the most expensive stores and the location of the only Tiffany's in the Netherlands). When we finally met up with the group, Ari, Esther, Catherine, Alex, Eric and I headed to the Heineken Experience.

The Heineken Experience was awesome!! One of the first things we did was try to fit 6 of us into the old Heineken label to take a photo. After our photo shoot, our 2 hour long walk through the old brewery began. During our experience we saw old bottles, the different phases of the Heineken logo, the gold medal Heineken was awarded in Paris, the ingredients included in Heineken, the old brewing room, part of the bottling process, the Heineken horses and stables, soccer jerseys of the teams Heineken has sponsored, and much more. We even got to go on a simulated ride that made us go though the brewing process. Halfway through our tour we got a free tasting. During one point, we even played a game to see if we are beer pouring masters. Our tour ended with 2 free drinks in the Heineken bar.The Heineken bar was a lot of fun. The TVs around the wall showed pictures of many famous cities around the world.

Once our Heineken Experience was over, we walk around a little more on a mission to find some dinner. Since most of us had to catch a flight at 9:35am on Sunday, we had a relaxing night of just walking around.


My time in Amsterdam was a lot of fun. I didn't know a lot about Amsterdam before I booked my trip so I wasn't sure how much there was to see. After looking up information on the city and going to Amsterdam, I quickly realized there was tons to see. The city was so pretty with the different buildings and the endless canals.

Field Study to Crowne Plaza

For my core class, European Business Strategy, I went to the Crowne Plaza hotel. The trip to the hotel was our second field study. At the hotel, we learned about what makes this hotel so different from the other hotels in the chain. The biggest differentiation factor is the hotel's sustainable efforts. Originally, the management of Crowne Plaza wasn't too thrilled with Copenhagen's hotel desire to be sustainable, but now the Copenhagen Crowne Plaza receives a substantial amount of press. During our visit we received a 40 minute speech telling us about the hotel. The hotel's sustainable efforts include: using solar panels; recycling food for other purposes; having the house wine that is almost completely recycled (everything except the actual wine); and using lights that have microphone sensors, which will turn on lights when sound is heard. After our speech, we got to tour 3 rooms. We saw the normal room, the club room (a little bigger than the normal room), and a large room on the top floor. The rooms were amazing! I wish I could have stayed there. After the tour, our field study was over.

Visit to the Visiting Family

On Monday, I had another chance to eat dinner with my visiting family. I went over to their house for a traditional Danish meal. The meal consisted of frikadeller, 2 kinds of potatoes, and red cabbage. After dinner, we sat around talking before dessert. When I went over to their house, I brought with me gummy bears from Albanese Candy my mom sent to me in my care package. Before giving them the gummy bears I hoped they would like candy from my home. Luckily, the family loved the gummy bears. The boys couldn't stop eating them. The rest of the night was sitting around talking to the family and watching the Danish news with Inger and Neils.

During dinner, I told them my mom sent me a care package. First, they asked me what a care package is. I told them it was things, my mom sent me that I was missing from home, such as bright colored clothing and Reese's. Then they asked me what Reese's are. Since I know Europeans don't like peanut butter I knew telling my visiting family about Reese's was going to be funny. When I told them Reese's are peanut butter covered in chocolate, the family looked at me with a kind of grossed out look and then the mom said that sounds gross. I just had to laugh and say it's an American thing. 

I had a wonderful evening with my visiting family and I can't wait to see them again.

F.C. København vs Brøndby

Back in the States, our sports world revolves around several sports, such as football, baseball and basketball. The thought of having soccer as a main sport to watch hasn't really crossed the mind of many people. Here in Europe, football (soccer) is THE SPORT!

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to the F.C. F.C. København vs Brøndby game on Sunday, March 20th. If you are enrolled in a Danish class at our school, you got a free ticket from your Danish class. I'm not in Danish, but my friend gave me her extra ticket. That night a group from my floor and I went to the game. At 6pm, the match started. Football matches here are 90 minutes long and have half time at 45 minutes. During the first half, Copenhagen wasn't doing too well. When Copenhagen had the ball, Brøndby would take possession right away. At the end of the half, Copenhagen was down 0-1. Although, the second half got interesting. Within the first few minutes, Copenhagen found their momentum and tied up the game. Not much longer, Copenhagen scored again. The crowd is now going crazy with streamers and cheers! Since F.C.K. was winning, my friend and I decided to leave a few minutes early so we could go buy an F.C.K. scarf. By us leaving early we missed the final goal of the game...luckily made by Copenhagen making the final score 3-1.

During the game, I noticed one thing. The fans here cheer like crazy!! The entire game, the F.C.K. fans were cheering. The fans even had the cheers coordinated. One side of the bleachers would say one thing and the other side would respond. On top of that, the fans had several cheers! My friends and I joked how the Danish football fans put the American sport fans to shame. 
Although all the cheers were in Danish so none of us could join in. This would be another point I knew how to speak Danish.

The night was a lot of fun!! I am so happy I can say I have been to a European football game!


Random Fact: My visiting family told me that the Brøndby fans have to get their fingers scanned before coming into games because of the trouble they cause. Since the system was new, the Brøndby fans boycotted the game we went to.

St. Patrick's Day in Copenhagen

On St. Patrick's Day in the States one would see people dressed in green, leprechauns, shamrocks, gold coins and green beer all over the place. Walk around Copenhagen on St. Patrick's Day, the chances of you running into a person dressed in green with a shamrock painted on their face, is slim, with the exception of Americans and the Irish. Celebrating St. Patrick's Day is definitely an American thing. Back home, I would find decorations in stores weeks before St. Patrick's day. Here in Copenhagen, I barely saw any. When some of my friends were walking around with their leprechaun hats on, Danes looked at them like they were crazy. During the day students said that people came up to them asking what they were celebrating.While the holiday isn't widely celebrated in Copenhagen, some Danes still join in on the festivities. Although the Danish culture doesn't widely acknowledge St. Patrick's Day, my friends and I lived the American way and went to the Irish bar, Irish Rover. The night was a lot of fun. The bar was filled with Americans, Irish, and a few Danes. At the bar an Irish band played traditional Irish songs along with some classics. Of course the night would not be complete without drinking an Irish beer...Guinness to be exact. Whether or not St. Patrick's Day is viewed as a holiday to celebrate, the night was a lot of fun!

Edinburgh, Scotland...A Haunted City

On top of the wonderful time I had in London, my friend Becca and I went to Edinburgh for the weekend. Before going o Edinburgh, I never imagined myself visiting the city at this point in time of my life. In the end, I loved my trip to Edinburgh. The city is filled with the old-world charm of stone buildings and cobble-stoned streets, awesome Scottish accents, beautiful views at all angles, and of course more Harry Potter references.

March 11^th

My trip to Edinburgh continued right after my trip to London, which made getting to my flight a little stressful. I had to make a mad dash from Wimbledon in my business suit with a 15 pound backpack to the train station to catch an express train to the airport. Luckily, I made it to the airport with 30 minutes to spare before the gates closed. Although, the flight was delayed for 40 minutes due to traffic. I arrived at the hostel later in the evening. Once I was settled in, I went to dinner and walked around the area near the hostel. Our hostel was in a great location, 5 minutes from the Edinburgh Castle, in the city center, and had a lot of bars and restaurants near it. Since Becca and my flights were at different times, due to flight availability, I had to explore by myself. When Becca finally arrived she dropped her bags off and then we went out to the bar Three Sisters down the street.

March 12^th

A day full of exploring! At 10am, Becca and I decided to walk around the area near us, where we saw a cute little market. At 11am we went on the free walking tour our hostel held. Some of the sights on the walking tour included: Greyfriars Kirkyard which is one of the most haunted cemeteries (apparently Edinburgh is one of most haunted cities in the world); George “Bloody” Mackenzie tomb; George Herriot's School which inspired the design of Hogwarts from Harry Potter: Greyfraris Bobby statue; The Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter;

National Galleries of Scotland; St. James Monument; North Bridge; St. Giles Cathedral; the heart spot on the ground on the Royal Mile. This spot is where people used to pay taxes and today it’s the only spot legal to spit in Edinburgh. Of course I had to spit in the heart; Deacon Brodie’s Tavern; The Scotch Whiskey Experience; the Edinburgh Castle; the Last Drop bar, which is where people would have their last drink before they were hung; Maggie Dickson’s Pub. After the tour was over, we went shopping before our next tour: City of the Dead. The tour took us to area near the South Bridge and into the underground vaults of the South Bridge. Before we entered the vaults, our tour guide told us the vaults were some of the most haunted places in Edinburgh and that the show Ghost Hunters has filmed segments here. Going into the ground and 1^st level wasn’t too bad, but going to the 2^nd level was the most frightening part. Before we went up the second level, our tour guide gave us a little speech. He hold us that many people who enter the vaults don’t like to go up to the 2^nd level because weird and freaky events happen up there. Since he needed the money, he was going to take us up there. The next thing he told us was if we feel a cold spot, not just cold because we are in Scotland, but tingling and the feeling of needles, then we should move. If we get the same feeling twice, we should get his attention right away because one of two things is going to happen. Either we are going to faint or going to get scratched by the spirits in the room. When he told the group this, Becca and I looked at each other with the look “he has to be kidding,” and “what did we get ourselves into.” Our time on the 2^nd level wasn’t too bad, just a little freaky. Of course to heighten the tense atmosphere, our tour guide told us 2 stories: one being about a little girl being led by the black spirit into a corner and another boy being badly scratched. Luckily, Becca and I both came out of the tour without scratch. Our next stop for the day was the Scotch Whiskey Experience. During our experience, we took a ride in a whiskey barrel to learn about the whiskey making process, sampled one kind of whiskey, and saw the largest whiskey collection in the world, which contains 3,384 bottles. 

Afterward, we went shopping on the Royal Mile and Princes Street to find the cashmere scarves Scotland is known for, which was a successful mission. For dinner, Becca and I decided to go to the restaurant Mums and eat haggis like our tour guide at the hostel suggested. Before I ate haggis, I had no idea what it was and was told not to find out. Not knowing what haggis was, I would say that the meal mashed with the neeps and tatties was okay. After finding out haggis is sheep liver, heart, and lungs minced with onions, oatmeal, suet, salt, spices and mixed with stock, I won’t ever be eating that again. Later in the night we went out to 2 clubs down the street, both being the complete opposite of each other. Opium played rock and metal music to dance to whereas Sneaky Pete’s played techno. Never in my mind did I imagine I would be dancing to metal music, but the night was a lot of fun.

March 13^th

The first thing we did on our last day in Edinburgh was the Edinburgh Castle. 

 During our walk through the castle we saw the Great Hall, National War Museum of Scotland, The Regimental Museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and the Military Prison. By far the best items we saw at the castle were the Honours of Scotland, the nation’s crown jewels. The jewels were amazing!! After the castle, Becca and I walked along the Royal Mile to pass time. On our walk we stopped at Fudge House to get some fudge. We kept walking down Canongate and ended up at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen’s Palace in Scotland. We only walked around the outside of the Palace. 

Across the street was the Scottish Parliament. Near the palace was Holyrood Park. In the park is the Salisbury Crags, a large cliff. Since Becca and I had time before we needed to go back to the hostel, we decided to walk up the cliff. The view from the cliff was amazing!! You could see a wonderful view of most of Edinburgh. At 2pm we left the wonderful city of Edinburgh.

Mind the Gap...A Week in London

From March 6^th to March 11^th, I was in London for my long study tour. The week was filled with academic visits, cultural tours, sightseeing adventures, and Harry Potter references. I learned how to navigate the tube, ate fish and chips (fries), learned to squeeze my way into a jammed backed tube during rush hour, and of course to mind the gap. To add the the amazing week of activities, the weather was nothing, but perfect and sunny!

March 6^th

In the early hours of the morning, 5:40am to be exact, a group from my housing and I left for the airport. At 6:45am, we had to be at the airport to meet our core course. At 9.35am, we arrived into London to begin the amazing week. After we checked into our hotel, we were off to lunch for the traditional fish and chips. Although, the fish was more like frozen fish sticks. After lunch we headed off the British Museum for a guided tour. Random people attempted to join our tour, but our tour guide continued to say this is a private tour. As a joke for other tours, our group would say this is a private tour. At the museum we saw several exhibits, such as the mummy exhibit. One of the best items we saw was the Rosetta Stone. At one point our group was trying to take a picture of the stone, but some guy was in our way. So my group and I decided to wait, but this guy decided to intently look at the Rosetta Stone as if he was reading it. All of us just laughed and tried to get him out of the way. Eventually he did and we were able to get our picture. After the British Museum, we went back the hotel. The rest of the night, Libby, Becca, Maria, Esther, Dafna and I went out to dinner and a bar.

March 7^th

Today was the first day we experienced the tube during rush hour. The tube during rush can be compared to canned sardines, jammed back. Traveling with a group of 20 doesn’t make traveling easy in general, but trying to smash all of us into the tube was a difficult task, but was accomplished. Our first stop for the day was the Danish Chamber of Commerce in London. Afterwards, we had time for lunch. A group of us went to Harrod’s to explore the shopping, Egyptian escalator, and food market. Once our lunch break was over, our class split into two groups for our next visits. My group went to the Bank of England Museum then Llyods of London. The Bank of England museum was kind of boring so Esther, Tom, Maria, Dafna, Dan and I went down the street to Leadenhall Market, which used to represent the area of London near The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Our academic visit to Lloyd’s of London was interesting. We heard about some of the crazy items insured, such as America Ferrera’s smile for $10 million and Madonna’s singing voice. We also received a tour of the building, which included going in their outside glass elevators to view the top of the city. The archicture of Lloyds is extremely interesting in the fact that the items, such as the heating and cooling and elevators, are outside of the building in order to save space inside. After our academic visit was dinner at the Indian restaurant, Banglore Express. This was the first time I have had Indian food and it was amazing!

After dinner was a trip to the London Eye, the highlight of my evening. Walking to the London Eye was amazing! The walk was magnificent with blue lights adorning the trees and the London Eye glowing blue. The time on the London Eye was even better! For 20 minutes we got to see the city light up on a crystal clear night! After the London Eye, was going out of the night.

March 8^th

Two Words: Biking Tour. One of the best events of the day was our 3 hour Fat Tire Bike Tour. We couldn’t have had a better day to go biking…clear skies and sunny. Along with the amazing weather, we saw so many sights. We saw Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Clarence House(where Prince Charles lives), Trafalgar Square, Parliament (Big Ben), St. James Park and Horse Guards. One word of caution: riding a bike and trying to take one handed pictures may not be the best idea. Several times pedestrians almost got run over or I almost fell off my bike. After our amazing bike tour, we walked for an hour to lunch. Why we walked, who knows since there were tons to tube stations everywhere. When we got to lunch our professor commented on how much all of us were smiling. We told her because we loved the bike tour and didn’t want it to end. Later we split up into small groups for our academic visit. My group and I went to Christie’s Education. 

After, Libby, Esther, Becca, Maria and I went to King’s Cross to go see Platform 9 and ¾ and eat dinner. That night, a majority of our class went out to a club together. Going out together was a lot of fun and a great way for all of us to bond.  This way by far of my favorite days in London.

March 9^th

Our first stop for the day was to Westminster Abbey. When we arrived at Westminster Abbey all of us were under the impression we were going to receive a tour of the church, but wrong we were. Our tour guide told us that Westminster Abbey was closed until 11am because of Ash Wednesday Services. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay until 11am because we had to go to our next visit. Instead, we toured the area around Westminster Abbey. Our next stops for the day were the National Portrait Gallery and lunch at The Smith’s Square Bar and Restaurant. Since we didn’t have any academic visits for the day, we were free to leave the group at 2:30pm. Becca, Libby, Maria, Esther, Dafna, and I left to go explore for the rest of the day on our own. Our exploration took us to Kensington Palace, where we saw the Enchanted Palace Exhibit. The exhibit guided us through the palace, which was gorgeous. Each of the rooms were princess setups. The rest of our day included tea time at the Orangery and shopping on Oxford Street. 

March 10^th

The Imperial War Museum was the first stop of the day. At the museum we saw the different tanks and guns used by the British military, and a Holocaust exhibit. After the museum we had free time so Tom, Dafna, Libby, Becca, Esther, Maria and I went to Notting Hill/ Portobello Road since some scenes from the movie Notting Hill were shot here. The town was so cute. One street had different colored houses painted in pastel colors. Later was our academic visit with Green Baby. After we had some time to relax and get ready, our class went to dinner and to see the musical “We Will Rock You” at the Dominion Theatre. When we got to the theatre, our professor was still at the ticket booth, which was weird since she left dinner early. Apparently the theatre didn’t have our tickets for the show because they booked us for May 10^th. Susanne is a quiet and soft spoken person in general, but Anders told us she made a scene and got us our tickets. The musical was a little weird, but was still good. After, we all went out.

March 11^th

Sadly, our last day in London. The only thing we did for the day was take a trip to Wimbledon!! Our hour long tour included FJ Perry statue (the last British man to win Wimbledon); FJ Perry statue (the last British man to win Wimbledon); the player reception desk. During Wimbledon all players must check in and if they fail to check in they are fined 2,000 pounds; the press room where the players are required to have an interview. If the players don’t show up for an interview they are fined 10,000 pounds. During our time in the press room we got to sit in the chair the players sit in for interviews!!! AWESOME! 

Centre Court which is where the main match happens. When we were there, we got to sit in the original seating which is where the press sits today;Court 18 the location of the longest tennis match in the world between John Isner and Nicolas Nahut, which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes and required 183 games, Area where the big Screen is placed; Court 1; Southern end of courts. After our tour, we got a presentation from Richard Atkinson, the CFO of Wimbledon and then time in the Wimbledon Lawn Museum. The museum was really interesting. We got to see racquets for the early ages, uniforms from the early ages, the different stages of tennis balls, and uniforms from champions. Although, the best thing we saw was the actual trophies the winners receive!! Going to Wimbledon was amazing! My trip to Wimbledon was a highlight. I can now say that I sat at Centre Court, sat in the player interview seat, saw the trophies of Wimbledon and TOUCHED the grass of a Wimbledon Court. After my time at Wimbledon, I had to rush out at 12:30pm to catch my flight for Edinburgh.

You can find more pictures of my trip here

Or here

This was my second trip to London, the first time being in the summer of 2007 for a day and a half. Having more time in London made me fall more in love with the city. I truly had some highlights of my life during this trip.

Gay Bar Excursion

Having the opportunity to go on field studies with my classes has provided me with experiences I never thought I would have. Case in point, my most recent field study. My fourth field study was for my Gender and Sexuality class. For the field study, we had to go somewhere I never pictured myself going...a gay bar. Before the class headed to the variety of gay bars located in Copenhagen, we met at the center desk of the school to split into small groups and to learn about our assignment. My group consisted of 4 other girls and one guy. Part of the field study was for the group to ask someone in the bar questions about homosexuality in Denmark. Once our groups were assigned and we had our assignment sheets, we were off to our assigned destination. My group was assigned the bar Centralhjørnet, the oldest gay bar in Copenhagen. When we walked in our group definitely got the look of "what is this group doing here." In the beginning, there were only 3 older men and the bartender. We went to sit at a table in the back corner of the bar to figure out the best way to approach asking someone in the bar questions. First, we went to get a round of drinks since DIS was paying for one free drink. As we were ordering our drinks, the bartender started joking with us. Because of this, we decided he would be the best person in the bar to interview. We had to ask him questions about what it means to be a homosexual in Denmark, is there a gay identity in Denmark, does he participate in the homosexual political movement, and what is dating life like. Through our interview we found out he doesn't really participate in the political movement, the way people view homosexuals is up to them and will vary from person to person, there is not a gay identity that homosexuals live up to in Denmark, and that when gays want to hit on someone they don't buy drinks they just go straight up to the person and say "you want to fu**." After we finished asking him the interview questions we just talked to him to get to know him better. We found out that he has been working in drag for 30 years (since we have 15!). Because of this he has lived in German quite a few times. One thing he found weird about his drag job was that he would find out 2 years in advance where he was going to be living. He also told us why Danes don't partake in small talk. He said that when Danes have a conversation with someone, they want the conversation to mean something and have depth. For them, small talk seems fake. Although that doesn't mean they won't talk to someone new, others just have to initiate the conversation.Interviewing the bartender was a lot of fun for my group and I.

At 9:15pm we had to head back to school so we could discuss our bar experiences. Overall the night was different and interesting, but still fun.

Second Visit with the Visting Family

On February 27th, I finally I got to see my visiting family again. Since they were on ski vacation for a week and had busy schedules, I haven't had the chance to see them in a few weeks so it was nice to meet up with them again. For our visit, they took me out to brunch and showed me around town. When my family picked me up, the mom told me they wanted to take me to a nice cafe near me, but it was too crowded. Instead, they were going to take me to a place the boys like to go. The restaurant the boys love is called O's American Breakfast and Barbecue. When we arrived at the restaurant I had to laugh a little. Of all the cafes and restaurants to go, we went to a place that served American food...a little ironic. I told the mom I have been wanting to try the food here since I pass the restaurant every day on my way to school. In a way I was a little curious about the food. Was it really going to be similar to American food? Were the pancakes they offered going to be the large and fluffy like the ones in the US? As I ordered my food, I was excited to try the pancakes, sausage, and hash browns. To my pleasant surprise the food was very similar and delicious...exactly what I have been craving. After our delicious brunch, the family drove me to the harbor where the son of Jørn Utzon designed a cool looking building. We also drove around the area where the American Ambassador lives and other million dollar homes. The million dollar homes in Copenhagen are different from the US in regards to size and grandeur. In general, homes are smaller and less flashy, which is a result of Danish culture's desire to not flash wealth. Either way the houses are extremely nice and near the water. Afterward, they dropped me off since the father had soccer practice.

One of the Lucky Few

On February 23rd, I had my third field study, which was for my Copenhagen history class. Now, this field study wasn't to just anywhere it was to Amalienborg Palace. That's right the home of the Royal family!!!

Our field study started out with us walking around the area of Frederickstown. We saw several sights, such as Nyboder (the old naval houses) and Citadel (a bastion still in place). After we walked around for an hour, the most interesting part of the field study began.

When we go to Amalienborg Palace, our professor told us we were very lucky because tours of Amalienborg aren't open to the public. In order to get a tour, you have to apply and be approved ahead of time. When we began our tour we had to put all our coats and bags in a coat room. We had to wear blue plastic booties, like the ones doctors have to wear, over our shoes and we weren't allowed to bring our cameras with us. These precautions were taken in order to preserve the palace since many pieces of the palace are still intact from the 1700s and 1800s. Our tour guide showed us around and told us about the palace for a little over an hour. Also during this time, we were followed around by the palace security.

Amalienborg Palace was MAGNIFICENT. Originally the palace was built for four noble families, but when Christiansborg Palace burnt down in 1794, the Royal family bought the palaces. Many of the rooms, such as the China room, had tapestries on the walls that have been there since the day they were hung. An interesting fact we learned about the tapestries in the China room was the artist who designed the pictures never went to China. Another interesting fact, artists were involved in tapestry making since they were the ones who designed the sketch of the scene and the sewers were the ones who created the tapestry from the sketch. We saw several other rooms, such as the Grand Hall. The Grand Hall was GORGEOUS! The rocaille was made of wood and gold. Our tour guide told us that carving out of wood required some of the best skill, which made  the wood carving very expensive. Having gold along with the wood made the rocaille extra expensive. Another room we went into had an interesting story about the tapestry on the wall. When the fabric was chosen for the room, the family believed there was enough fabric to adorn the walls and furniture. As the family was close to finishing the wall, the fabric ran out. In order to hide the mistake, a painting from painting archives was hung. Amalienborg has to be one of my favorite palaces I have seen. Unlike many palaces, the interior wasn't cluttered with paintings and furniture. The interior was simple, but still displayed wealth and magnificence with the fabrics, paintings, flooring, gold, and tapestries.

Oh, did I mention I was in the same room as Margerthe II, THE QUEEN OF DENMARK?!?! Well, kind of. Although the house we were in is not regularly used by the Royal family, the Queen periodically goes to the building or uses it for special occasions, such as the Grand Hall for New Year's celebrations. As we were in the China room, someone opened the door. Our tour guide and the man started speaking in Danish. Then the door was shut again. Later, our tour guide told us that the man who opened the door was with the Queen. SO AWESOME!!! I can say I was near the Queen!!