August 26th to September 2nd: Tivoli and Copenhagen

Soooo, I've been MIA for almost a month... I finally have a break to sit down for a couple hours and spill my guts about everything that has happened since August. Hmmmm, I'm having some serious difficulty trying to think of how and where to start writing... That's what I get for ignoring my blog for this long... AHHH >.<  

OK. Here goes nothing. Hope you can follow =)

August 26th to September 2nd

So, the day after my last post, my host family treated me to a magical day in Tivoli -- one of Denmark's most famous amusement parks. Upon receiving my all access pass I entered Tivoli prepared to take full advantage of every ride and game. There was no mercy. I was taking TIvoli for all it had to offer and it was going to be happy about it. I LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS. Tivoli seemed like absolute heaven and I had enough energy to go on every ride ten times! ...... or so I thought. Several hours later I was completely pooped. I definitely had a lot of energy entering Tivoli, but I think one ride in particular stole all of my spirits. VERTIGO. Although my family loved rollercoasters, even this one was out of their league. But not for Sarah Degginger. She is fearless... Or so she thought... See what she has seen!! -- http://www.tivoli.dk/composite-8596.htm -- I was SO terrified at first, especially because I was going alone. But I can't blame Rasmus or Caroline for not wanting to go on this ride, it looked like the soaring planes of death. I was relatively sure I wasn't waiting on line for my turn to die... Anyways, because I was alone I got to cut people :-D wait...not literally cut them...I mean cut them in line, like go ahead of them. Soo, yea, I did that and got into a plane with three other swedish boys about my age. They were super hilarious. They were more terrified than I was. This is how some of the dialogue went, just to give you an idea:

Me: "Hi! ...... Do you speak english???"
Swedish Boyz: "Ohhhh!!! Americano!!!! Yes yes we speak english. We're scared shittless. Do you know any swedish?"
Me: "Nope."
Swedish Boyz: "Then you will learn some today!! You see, we will be cursing the entire time, so you will learn swedish swear words!!"
Me: "Awesome!"

That's just a bit of our dialogue. Intelligent right?? Anyways, there was no backing out at that point. I sat down, harnessed in, and tried to prepare myself for what would happen next. Well, I must say.... BEST RIDE EVER. It was so amazing and crazy and fun. It literally took my breath away haha. It looks a lot scarier than it actually is. I highly suggest it ;)

After that we just walked around Tivoli until the evening hours and went on all the other rides. We ate at a restaurant that overlooked Tivoli gardens, which was unbelievably beautiful. I wish I had taken more pictures. Tivoli is supposedly the place where Walt Disney got the inspiration to make Disneyland. The flowers in it seemed unreal. They were all perfect and so odd looking. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland.

Cool right?? I could have spent a while admiring these flowers and taking pictures of them. But my stomach's relentless growling for food eventually won out. We left Tivoli late that night and arrived home sometime after 11:00pm. 

I spent the rest of the weekend getting settled and relaxing. That was my first week of classes. My schedule is as follows:

Mon/Thurs: 

- Health Care Prioritization in Northern Europe -- my core course.

- Danish Language and Culture 101 -- yayy danishhh!

- International Marketing and Branding -- my professor is awesome.

Tues/Fri:

- Public Health Ethics -- it's fun to argue.

- Nordic Mythology -- yeaaa be jealous.

I've met countless students from all over the States. I'm trying to keep track of everyone...names aren't my strong suit. This is where Facebook comes in. Facebook saves lives. Thank you Mark Zuckerberg. 

Vestergade 7 - DIS home base. 

Vestergade is actually pronounced "vestergaele." When I asked for directions in the beginning every danish person looked at me like I was insane. Pronunciation counts!! For example, kylling is the danish word for chicken. However many Americans pronounce it as "killing," which in danish means "kitten." So, when you go to a cafe and order a sandwich with kitten, they will look at you funny. Kylling is more pronounced "Kulling." A little Danish 101 for you guys. 

And since the first week I have discovered the Studenterhuset which gives 20 DKK lattes ($3.50)- extremely cheap here in CPH. I once paid $8 for a small latte....never again. I also found a bakery around the corner that gives DIS students a 20% discount..... I go there once a week and treat myself to something delicious. My most recent treat:

Yes yes yes... It was yummy. Be jealous.

I will write about the next two weeks in a later post. This was all I had time for today! Hope you enjoyed it =)

Preview of whats to come: LADY GAGA