You don't have to worry about being asked a question as soon as you've put a forkful of food in your mouth.
If topics are brought up that you know nothing about, firstly you aren't aware that they've been brought up as everything is sounding increasingly like the Swedish chef from the Muppets, secondly no one expects you to participate because the only Danish you know is
Jeg hedder Sarah. [my name is Sarah]
Jeg kommer fra USA. [I come from the USA]
Tak. [thank you]
Skol. [cheeers!]
AND when you can make a mental game out of trying to guess what the conversation is about based on tones and gestures.
Or you can pretend that everything is inappropriate and you'll find that the gestures will match the pretend-dirty-conversation.
Just be careful not to laugh out loud to yourself. It's awkward.
I successfully survived my first full week of 6am wake-ups and pretending to have done the readings during class discussions.
It only took multiple cups of coffee and entirely too many snacks.
Baby Bites from 7-11 are a kind of hot dog wrapped in something comparable to pizza crust and ketchup is already in the dough. And you can get TWO for 10K. THAT'S TWO DOLLARS.
Apologies to my gallbladder.
And the pastries?
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph they are delicious.
My favorite is the snegel. Which literally translates to 'snail.'
And it's comparable to a cinnamon roll, but SO MUCH BETTER.
Someone trying to be helpful, or just being condescending, informed me as I was eating one this week that I should be careful because they're equal parts flour and butter.
Bitch please.
It's delicious and the only part of me that worries about that is my gallbladder and I'm getting rid of that pain-in-my ass this summer.
But I digress...
Wednesday afternoon I went to Rosenberg Castle with my Danish class.
I got there late because streets here don't run parallel to each other so while I thought I was headed there, I was really veering away from it so I had a wee little adventure.
When I got there I couldn't find my group so I asked a very kindly employee if she had seen them. (bear in mind, the castle is NOT that big).
She didn't know so she called another dude to come in to the office.
He didn't know so he made a phone call.
And then she gave me a free ticket to go and join a group that was potentially from DIS and if they were I was all set and if not I had to come back and return the ticket.
The castle itself was old.
The royal jewelry is housed here so I picked out my future engagement ring and called it a day.
Did I mention that it's been colder than a polar bear's bare ass here?
Thursday night I joined my Danish class again for dinner at Cafe Paludan which served absolutely delicious pasta in an Asian sauce with chicken and a multitude of vegetables. [yes mom, I ate my brocili]
It is so nice to be able to enjoy a beer with dinner without it requiring going to a mexican place where you have to flirt with the waiter just so he'll overlook the borrowed ID that says you're 5'5" with green eyes.
Friday Callie Samantha and I attempt to book cheap flights to Berlin so that we can stay at a cheap hostel.
No go.
Then we attempt to book cheap flights to Dublin for St. Patty's day without finding a place to stay in hopes that the kindness of strangers and people we know and meet will give us a floor to pass out on.
Can't really afford to fly to Dublin.
And then computers get ready to die so we obviously have accomplished nothing in the travel-planning department.
Sooooo if any of you faithful readers have suggestions for good destinations for students or ways to travel on the cheap...holla at yo ho and let me know.
Willing to risk my safety and well-being (to an extent) in an effort to use as little green as possible.
That same night Callie and Samantha meet me all the way out here in Helsingor for a girl's night in.
And after my nubby-toes go numb and they've risked traveling with the wrong zone passes, we finally get back to the house.
Pizzas and four bottles of wine later, everyone is chatty, relaxed, and enjoying their evening in.
We're all mature and shit now.
Drinking wine and staying classy.
Annnnd then Saturday night happens.
But before I get to my nighttime activities, my daytime activities ran with this weeks theme of being late and lost to DIS events, and I managed to be an hour and a half late to a bowling thing for other people living with host families north of the city.
I got off the bus at the wrong stop.
Walked back to the right stop.
Walked back to the wrong stop.
Walked down a street that led me to a tiny, sketchy grocery store.
One woman tells me to go right.
Another woman tells me to go left.
And an old woman tells me to get on a bus.
And after calling the event coordinator 5 times and wandering around freezing my face off for 45 minutes, I finally found the bowling alley.
My bowling skills were superbly terrible, by the way.
But before I get to my nighttime activities, my daytime activities ran with this weeks theme of being late and lost to DIS events, and I managed to be an hour and a half late to a bowling thing for other people living with host families north of the city.
I got off the bus at the wrong stop.
Walked back to the right stop.
Walked back to the wrong stop.
Walked down a street that led me to a tiny, sketchy grocery store.
One woman tells me to go right.
Another woman tells me to go left.
And an old woman tells me to get on a bus.
And after calling the event coordinator 5 times and wandering around freezing my face off for 45 minutes, I finally found the bowling alley.
My bowling skills were superbly terrible, by the way.
Now to preface this night out, you need to be aware that when Callie and Samantha went out on Tuesday night, they ended the night separately after one went a-wanderin and neither of them were alseep before 6am.
Infer what you will. [Callie's blog offers a better insight, but it's not my story to tell since I was happily snoring away and drooling in bed.
God I'm a sexy sleeper.
ANYWHO
We meet in the city and head to a bar called 'Out of Juice' where we enjoy the music and 10 shots for 100K [20 dollars].
Then we make the long trek to a club across town called 'Rust' which is famous for its good times and live music.
And apparently, my host family tells me, a security guard was shot outside the club a few years ago. But no one was killed last night, so it's all good in the hood.
It isn't quite what we expected for the steep entry price, but we enjoy the live music for a bit and because our hands are stamped we decide that we can dipset to another bar for a bit and then come back.
Well Callie lost the ticket stub to claim her jacket...and this means that they will not, even after offers of money and threats of tears, give her her coat back until 5:30am.
So we head off to another bar where we enjoy drinksondrinksondrinks and make some Danish friends.
And of course become acquainted with some Danish creeps.
Putting your hand up my shirt while we're standing at the bar dude is not okay. I'm drunk, not easy, or a hooker. And the least he could have done is bought me a drink for that nonsense.
But not so much.
Ugh.
We stay there for a good while and once the jacket has been retrieved we trudge the beautifully snowy streets of the city and embark on the journey to stay at Samantha's house.
Where after I left this morning I had to endure a painful hour and a half of commuting back home.
And let's just say that the public transportation system is lucky that I didn't vomit on the floor of their train.
So I spent the day napping and watching 30 Rock.
Which led me to the dinner party, where we passed around a picture of a couple that Pia is friends with.
They are of the older generation.
And in the picture they sent to Pia, they are naked.
#copenhagenproblems
9:31pm Denmark
3:31pm USA
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