"Be careful ....

when saying kylling and killing. One means chicken, the other kitten."

Note to self:
Try not to order kitten sandwiches!! In part two of my danish survival lessons we learned that the two words are nearly identical and it could be a pretty big misunderstanding : )

No, of course they don't have kitten sandwiches in Denmark!
Well I'll spare you anymore kitten anecdotes ... except to say that I haven't seen any cats since I've been in Denmark.

One of the many squares on my way to class

Having for some reason convinced myself that my sense of direction is perfectly fine and having gotten myself around plenty of big cities without much help I figured it wouldn't be much different in Copenhagen. And with this many of what things I've previously thought are being proved wrong by the fantastic world of Scandinavia. The thing that really gets me lost is the fact that many streets throughout the city center are pedestrian only, very old and narrow, full of the cutesy European cafes and shops you would imagine and in no way built in straight lines or on any sort of a grid.

So, the second morning of Danish lessons I left the house with an hour to get to class and decided since I had extra time I would go to a new train stop which I was told was closer to our classes. This stop is definitely closer ... if you don't walk in a few circles first ... I ended up spending the 15 extra minutes before class walking around flustered and eventually making it to class 5 minutes late. Needless to say I figured out how to not repeat this the next morning.

I enjoyed our Danish classes very much. The first day we even had Danish pastries! Danishes!! Here they are called vienerbrød, meaning bread from vienna. I guess this explains why a girl I met said she tried ordering a Danish and the attendant gave her a blank stare. But now we know how to order pastries, introducing ourselves, saying hello & how are you, etc. I like that we have a few of the polite phrases but I still find myself having a hard time having to ask for English. I guess trying at all is seen as a positive, whereas I met plenty of people traveling S. America who didn't have a single word of spanish. I have also been having a great time practicing with Antonio and Agneta and maybe along with a few cd lessons I can pick up a bit more during the semester.

Ok, so how about public transportation you ask? Well I was surprised to find that on the train there is a bit of an "honesty" policy in effect. When entering or exiting the train you never swipe or scan any sort of ticket. The ticket I use is in a little sleeve that I carry with me at all times so that if the train "guards" get on and ask to see it I have it on me. If not the fines are about $100.

A huge percentage of the Danes either use public transportation or cycle on a daily basis. Part of this is because of the cost associated with having a car. Just to get a drivers license is more than $1000USD and the taxes that they pay in buying equate to as high as a 200% mark up. I think that I would bicycle through rain, sleet and snow also!

Antonio has already told me that they have an extra bike that I can use any time I want. I'm not sure if I will take it into the city much but around our little town will be nice. The other thing to think about is the bicycle laws ... as I like to think of them as ... with so many people on bicycles there are even turning lanes for the bikes! No longer is it look each way before crossing, it's make sure a bike isn't going to take you out if you step onto the street!!

I have really enjoyed my first two days of classes. I have had my core business class, Doing business in the EU, my International Marketing course and my Global business strategy course. The professors each have an impressive professional history and use this experience in guiding the courses. They also subscribe to the idea that it is better to create the learning process with the students rather than strict lecturing. My international marketing professor has already invited my class of twenty students to share a danish meal with his family on monday. Perhaps someone clued him in to the fact that a university student will never pass up a free meal : )

This friday we have a social event put on by DIS at a club in CPH (Copenhagen city). It really is so completely different than my last semester. Now instead of having a program with 30 students I have 450 other students and my specified program (IBE) has 78!! This means that there are so many more opportunities to meet people but it also means that a lot of students I am coming to find have friends that they have come abroad with or they have, at times, 15 students from the same school here. This is something that I sort of expected being that it is an english speaking program in a European city it doesn't necessarily scream "different" or "difficult" and I guess coming with friends or schoolmates makes the transition easier. I think the question I had been asked the most regarded whether or not I was going with friends. To that I always replied no, but I would like to make friends of course. So far I've made a few friends and am really hoping to get acquainted with some danish students. I'm trying to tell myself that it is still only the first week, and who knows maybe at this DIS social I'll meet a whole new slew of people.

Saturday I'm taking a day trip out to see castles! I'd rather like to see a moat : ) I am also going to try and get half priced tickets to a ballet that is currently on at the Royal Opera house. I have been missing dance so much and I'm trying to find out now if it would be possible to take classes once or twice a week. If not here in Copenhagen definitely when I get back and have a bit of stability again (wishful thinking ?).

I have plenty more to relay and should really come up with more "notes to self" but for now I'll wait until the next post and hopefully when I can put up a bit more pictures.

Until then, farvel!! (farewell)

Royal Opera House