Once school was over with, my parents came to visit me in Copenhagen. It was a lot of fun showing my parents where I had gone to school and lived for 4 months. We then took a 2-week vacation in Norway.

The vacation was mainly so that my parents could meet the family I lived with back in 2006. It was so nice for my two sets of parents to finally meet each other! We even got to celebrate Norway's Independence Day like true Norwegians!

After leaving my family, we went all the way to the top of Norway on the border of Russia and took a boat cruise all the way down to Bergen. It was very relaxing and we got to see the midnight sun!

I feel like I should leave you all with some wisdom about SMU study abroad programs. My advice would be just to go for it! Jump in head-first to the experience and you will have so much fun. It helped to make my SMU experience great, and I am so glad I went! So stop reading my blog and go out into the world and make your own adventure.

Hei Hei! Vi Ses!

I set off on Friday with my friends Julie and Margot to fly to our first destination: Madrid! Once in Madrid we had our first task: how to find our hostel using public transportation. We were able to find our way through the subway system, which was very convieniently connected to the airport. Our hostel was really cool and the staff were very helpful, pointing us in the direction for a really great meal out.

After a good night's sleep we got up and were ready to experience Madrid. Our first stop was to walk around the Puerta del Sol (left). We then went over to one of Madrid's many parks.

That night we met another friend Emily and we walked around looking for some good food and a good atmosphere; we eventually found it, good thing that Spaniards normally eat later than Americans.

The next day we wandered over to yet another park and took a row for a relaxing Sunday row. Next we were off to Barcelona!

Our flight got in pretty late and since it was Sunday there wasn't much going on in Barcelona. We were able to find the only open restaurant, Chinese, in what seemed like the whole city.

The next day we were up bright and early to go on a bike tour. Now I haven't rode a bike in about 6 years, so a 4-hour bike tour had me a little nervous. But I made my way along with a nice older couple in the back and I loved the experience. We got to see all the sights and be outside! I found this fountain (right) that I fell absolutely in love with and want to go back to. The next morning we were on our way to Paris!

Paris was a more of a little stop for me as I was going to leave earlier than Julie and Margot. Unfortunately, the first day, in which we had planned for the Eiffel Tower, it was raining. We decided to take it easy and look instead for some good food, which happened to take form in burgers.

The next morning we decided to appease our inner child and go to Eurodisney. It was silly and fun and so much more. It was a great day, and after we went to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. I was sad the next day to leave Julie and Margot for the rest of my travels alone. I made my way, all on my own, to CDG on public transport!! Next stop for me was Levanger, Norway!

Now most of you are probably wondering why on earth I would go to a random little town in Norway. But Levanger is very special to me because I have once before done study abroad, in which I lived with a family in Norway and went to high school. I went back to spend Easter with them.

It was so nice to spend a couple of days with my "second" family and just hang out. I'm excited to go back next month when I'll take my parents to meet them for the first time. I had to leave them and go on my last stop - London.

I spent my last couple of days with one of my mom's friends in England. It was nice to just chill out and go around with a local. It was nice because I've also been to England many times before so I was comfortable with the city. It was a nice relaxing end to my long journey.

I have no idea where life will take me next, but I'll let you know when I find out! Vi ses! Hej Hej!

We started our day with a guided tour of Cesky Krumlov. The goal of lunch was to stay warm, so we found exactly where we wanted to eat and sat there until we had to go to our next visit.

We once again found ourselves at an art museum. This time it was Egon Schiele. Our last task was to have our final dinner together before we had to get back on the bus for our drive home to Copenhagen.

The first stop was at Lidice. Lidice is a village that was completely distroyed by Nazis in 1942. The children of Lidice are an interesting topic because those who were thought be more Ayrian were sent to Germany to be adopted and "Germanized" (photo left).

All men in the village were shot. The women were sent to concentration camps. The museum was very touching. I would say this is a must-see museum if you are in the Czech Republic.

After more Czech food for lunch we finally make it to Cesky Krumlov (photo right) where we were free for the rest of the night.

It was then time for lunch. We were on our own so we tried to pretend that we were Czech and go to a more local spot. We managed to find a cute cafe and ate some good Czech food.

After lunch we went on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter. It showed art drawn by Jewish children that had been hidden in a suitcase for years.

Afterward I went off on my own for some quality me time. I, of course, went shopping.

Dinner that night was another interesting choice. We went to the Crown Plaza Hotel, which is the best example of Stalinistic architecture. The meal was buffet style, and it was once again amazing. This was our last night in Prague.

We then split into groups to go on different walking tours. I chose to go on the Art Nouveau tour. The buildings in Prague are gorgeous! I was happy to just wander and look around.

That night we dressed to the nines and had dinner at Municipal House. It was very, very fancy (photo right).

After dinner we went to a concert. It was the best of Czech music. I'm not one to judge classical music, but it was ok. That night we all went out to try to find some Prague nightlife.

Afterward we went to lunch at one of the most gorgeous hotels in Prague. It was all art nouveau. Czech food is amazing - very rich, but very tasty! We were then given the rest of the day to ourselves.

I went with friends up to the Prague Castle, which had a great view of the city (photo left).

Again we hit a block when we found out that the castle was actually closed on Mondays. We did manage to get into the cathedral, which was just as cool (photo right).

I then went with just three others to see "Entropa." "Entropa" is a sculpture by David Cerny. It was made to poke fun at all the members of the EU. It made a lot of countries very upset - just Google it and you'll see what I mean. That night we went out for Lil's birthday at a vegetarian restaurant.

We started by going on a 2-hour walk of the city, during which we would stop and the students would give presentations on certain historical or cultural events. I was in a group with two other girls, and we presented on the Jewish Quarter in Prague.

After we finished our presentations we were given free time until dinner. I walked around with friends, and we ended up getting pretty lost, causing us to not be able to eat lunch or really relax any before dinner.

Before dinner we met with two Czech women who were there to tell us more about Czech culture today. It was very interesting, even if we were really too tired to talk much.

They then took us to a restaurant outside the city. This all seemed to be great at first. Unfortunately the small restaurant was not ready for 33 Americans - there was only one chef and one waitress. The dinner came to be called the 4-hour dinner as it took that long for any food to be produced. Every trip has its bumps, and we were all still in good spirits for the rest of the night.

A little after midnight we had to get off the bus in order to get on a ferry from Denmark to Germany. The bus ride was the low point of the trip as no one can sit on a bus for 12 hours and sleep/be confortable the whole time.

As I've been told now by every professor and Dane I meet, this winter is the worst Denmark has had since 1999. I know what you're thinking - lucky me, I get snow days and get to play in the snow. No. Snow days do not exist. Ask the many Danes whom I watch every day struggle riding their bikes to work in the snow, which has now become more of a mix of rain and snow.

The Danes and their bikes are a sight to see. Everyone is on a bike. It's amazing! They can even talk on their cell phones while riding their bikes! Bikers DO NOT stop for pedestrians, as one friend of mine found out when she got hit by a bike the other week. So my advice for you future SMU-in-Copenhagen students: pay attention to bikes!

Walking: get used to it

There are not that many cars in Copenhagen, because, well, everyone is on a bike. That's not to say that there are no cars at all, but the city is unlike an American city in that most of the transportation is bike, bus, or your own feet. This becomes more "fun" when you add snow.

On Wednesdays - when none of the Americans have class - we like to take walks around the city together. This past week we found ourselves on a lake ... literally. There are three lakes that are the barrier between the city and my suburb, Norrbro. The best thing about this cold winter is that for the first time the lakes are frozen enough that people can walk on them! So we managed to amuse ourselves by walking on the lake and taking silly pictures - we even found a couch to sit on.

Malmo

This past weekend a bunch of us decided to visit a neighbor of Denmark - Sweden. Malmo is a small city but has some really cheap shopping! We had fun just wandering around the city for a day. A tip for Malmo is that it's cheaper to buy two tickets than one. So get your friends and go in a group!

Well, I'm off to Prague on Saturday - a 17-hour bus ride to get there. I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about when I get back. Vi ses! Hej, Hej!

I had to wake up much earlier than normal - at 6 am - so that I could meet my core class for our short study tour. I went with my core class that I will be traveling to Prague with later this month. (So excited!!) We made our way onto the tour bus for our "short" four-hour ride to Jelling (pronounced "yelling").

Our first stop ended up being at a restaurant where we got to experience a real Danish meal. This was great for those of us in kollegiums because we have to cook for ourselves and therefore never really eat anything except pasta and soup. Once we had our fill at lunch, we went to look at the famous Jelling Stones. The Jelling Stones show the conversion from Pagan beliefs into Christianity. It was a stop that I would have never made on my own, so I was really glad that I had the opportunity to see it.

From Jelling we journeyed on to Vejen. In Vejen we stopped at a sculpture park. There was really no point to this stop when I look back on it, but I did make a new friend (in photo).

Our last stop on Thursday was Sonderborg. We stayed in what has to be the nicest hostel I've ever seen. We were left to find our own food before we were to meet as a group for a Chopin concert later that evening.

I went out with my roommates and we managed to find what looked like the only place open in the entire town (the next day I found out we were wrong), a tiny hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. It was OK.

The Chopin concert was another thing that I would never do on my own. I was glad for the experience. I will always be amazed by people who play instruments so effortlessly. Afterward our teachers decided to treat us all to a drink at a local pub. It was a nice time to bond as a group before we go to Prague.

Friday

Friday morning started out with a relaxing Danish breakfast, which includes meat for some reason. We then went to Dybol Banke, the site of the 1864 battle between Denmark and Germany. Denmark lost. The museum was interesting, even if we didn't quite understand what really happened during the war or why exactly the war happened. We were then given 15 minutes to run into Subway and grab lunch before we set off for Padborg.

In Padborg we visited Frosleviejren, a German prison camp from WWII. Here we were given the most oddly positive talk about a prison camp that I have ever heard.

It focused on the fact that Denmark did the right thing by giving into Germany's demands and was therefore able to save all but 300 of their Jewish population. I left the camp unsure of how I really felt about the information they provided. I guess it is something you should see for yourself to make your own conculsions.

Next we set off for the small town of Flensburg, Germany. This was another random stop that I think was just put in to fill up time. We were given a walking tour of the city where we learned about the small town that has both Germans and Danes living in it. We could even see Denmark in the distance. We also learned about an old tradition in Flensburg that when you graduate college, you put your shoes on telephone wires.

Our final destination was Ribe, Denmark. We met up with another DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad) core class for dinner. It was a fun time but very, very loud!

Saturday

After another Danish breakfast, we set off to explore Ribe on our own until we were to meet up at the Viking Museum. In the Viking Museum we were given a guided tour by a very enthusiastic Dane. He seemed to know everything about the Vikings and was very excited to "practice his English." We also had fun dressing up like Vikings in the children's part of the museum.

We then went to the oldest church in Denmark. The church had some very interesting paintings from the 1970s that made it more modern.

After leaving Ribe we were finally on our way back to Copenhagen, which for the first time felt like I was coming home.

Vi ses! Hej Hej!

This was my first week in what will become my "normal" routine. On Monday I am lucky in that I have no classes. I instead spent my day exploring the city that I will be calling home.

I took the bus into the city and proceeded to do what all of my professors and administrators have been telling us to do - I went and got lost (photos left and right). I went all over the walking streets and ended up in the largest department store in the city, Magasin. This department store is so big that it even has a metro stop connected to the store basement!

I had nothing else to do, so I decided to get on the metro and see where I ended up - which ended up being only one stop, as the next stop was the major stop that I needed to get home.

Tuesday/Thursday/Friday are less exciting in that I had to go to class. Yes, that's right, I only have class three times a week. No one in DIS has class on Wednesday, as it's set aside for field trips. My classes are fine so far; I will probably change my mind once papers start piling up.

Misadventure

On Wednesday I had my first field trip. It was with my Nordic Mythology class at the State Museum. I was all ready to go and took my bus into the city and got off at the stop Statens Museum for Kundst.

All seemed to be going well, except I couldn't see anyone from my class. I waited a while longer - now I was officially late - and called my friend who was in the other section of the same class. She told me that her class was meeting later and that I should just go with them. I waited around and couldn't get in touch with her when it came time for her class to be going through the museum.

It wasn't until I called DIS that I found out that I was in the wrong museum. I was at the National Museum, not the State. Not such a good start, but I get to make it up.

Weekend fun

On Friday night I went out with my friends from my kolligium on our planned monthly "family dinners." It was a lot of fun as we wandered around our area looking for somewhere that wanted 20 Americans to eat there.

Saturday I went into the city with some friends to do what girls love best - shopping. Unfortunately Copenhagen is very expensive so I didn"t buy anything. Saturday night we had a party in our kolligium for all of the international students.

Sunday was a big day out as I went to visit Elsrum Abbey (photo left). We went and played medieval games - I even got to joust!! Sadly my team did not win, but we had lots of fun even though it was freezing outside.

Next week I'm off on my short study tour to Jutland! Vi ses hej hej!

Arrival

I left Cincinnati on Saturday and got to Newark airport just in time to make my connecting flight to Copenhagen. While waiting for the flight, I was able to see just what I was getting myself into as the whole waiting area was completely taken over by college students. I met some nice people and was able to enjoy my flight, on which I was unable to actually fall asleep.

We arrived bright and early at 7:30 a.m. and were quickly bused over to our orientation spot. We were then given what I thought was the quickest orientation speech ever - it lasted at most 20 minutes. We were then left to hang out and wait for our transportation to our living arrangements.

This semester I am living in a Kollegium - it's pretty much a single dorm but I have my own kitchenette and bathroom. Everyone that I have met so far in my Kollegium is really cool, so I'm pretty excited about this semester so far.

Real orientation

Monday through Wednesday we finally got most of the information we needed - like where to get our bus pass and our 4-hour survival Danish classes.

On Wednesday we were sent out on a citywide scavanger hunt. I have never had so much fun wandering around lost. I was in a group with five boys, so naturally they felt the need to be boys and lead, and also never felt the need to stop and ask for directions when we were lost.

My only regret is that at the start of the hunt, my camera battery died, so I have no pictures to post yet on the blog! Though if you happen to have a brouchure from ISI you may just see my photo (they needed to make the picture look "more busy" so they asked us to pretend to walk by while they photographed the CEO).

Classes

So since I am in Copenhagen to study, I should talk about classes a bit. I have only had one day of each class, so it's still early, but I am looking forward to my classes - especially my Danish class where we get to go on some really cool field trips! I'll keep you posted on that.

Vi Ses! Hej Hej.