Velkommen til København

... and so a new semester abroad begins!



A note to any first time readers ... my blog title is indicative of my writing style ... I tend to ramble. That being said, there will nearly always be photos to keep the interest of those less keen to sift through an excessively long entry.


This semester I am writing from Copenhagen, Denmark as a student with the Danish Institute for Study abroad. I am living just outside of the city with host parents, Antonio and Agneta Lo Truco, and will be attending classes four days a week. I am also hoping to travel a fair amount over the next four or five months as it is my first time in Europe! As of now I have study trips with my classes scheduled in Berlin, Prague, and two weeks in China (Xian, Shanghai and Beijing). There are plenty of other places I'd love to visit but I suppose we'll wait and see.





Right, so I'm in Copenhagen now! It is so perfectly Scandinavian! I flew in friday from Paris and was greeted by my host parents. One quick thing about the airport ... I walked directly off of my plane (5 minutes early) and to the baggage claim area and both of my bags were already going around the carousel. I walked right out (as I had flown in from an EU country) and was loading my luggage into their car within 3 minutes. This is probably a world record.


My point: Danish efficiency. I'm not in S. America anymore, that's for sure.

The fact that my host parents had come to get me was extremely kind. There had been a mix-up with my flight information (as I had just found a flight) and they both took time off of work to meet me (two days earlier than I was supposed to come in!). When I thanked them profusely for coming and allowing me to arrive early they simply said, "We would want a family to do the same for our daughter". Wow. Did I mention how great they are? They are great!





Antonio and Agneta


I spent the afternoon unpacking and reading a bit. After all of this living out of a suitcase I've been doing for something like 2 months ... It is so great to put my things away and know it won't be until June that I have to worry about re-packing. In the evening we sat near the fire and spoke about family and travel over a glass of wine while we waited for pizza! I think I would like to make a coffee table book about pizza around the world : ) It's just so different everywhere!





The next day turned out to be very nice and in the afternoon we went to a neighboring town of Roskilde to visit a Viking boat yard (!!!), walk through the cute pedestrian shopping street and to a famous church. I had no idea what this church was except that it was old and beautiful. It turned out to be so old and beautiful that it has been the burial sight of all Danish Kings and Queens since the Reformation (As early as: Harald Blaatand, a.940-86).







Talk about history ... this church has been around since the early Middle Ages. Whoaa! In 1995 the cathedral was admitted to UNESCO's World Heritage List, and I thought we were just going to see a nice old church : )


On our way home we stopped at their daughter Maria's home to pick up her dog, Robin, to watch for the evening. I enjoyed another great meal, this time pasta and meatballs, and great conversation with Antonio and Agneta. Being that Antonio is Italian, originally from Sicily it was interesting to learn that first Italians eat the pasta, then they eat the bread and meatballs.

Antonio and Agneta first met in Italy while Agneta was on holiday, they were 18 years old. Agneta is originally from Sweden so the two of them lived in Sweden for a time before moving to Copenhagen together. Neither of them spoke Danish. Now they each speak Danish, Italian, Swedish, English and Antonio also speaks German. At dinner we found that perfect is nearly the same in about 7 languages : )

-- Strange coincidences between my host family in Chile and my host family in Denmark --

1. My host dad in Chile was also Antonio
2. Patty, my Chilean host mother, dreams of going to Italy to rediscover her heritage
3. At the end of both of the streets I have lived on is a Shell gas station

... perhaps not twilight zone material but still ...

: )


This afternoon I will head into the city for the first time and get some information from my program on this weeks orientation as well as getting my transportation card. All of the students are required to go and pick up the information but I'm not expecting it to be very social as most are coming directly from the airport with luggage and will want to find their host families and living arrangement. Another really great thing about coming to Europe early is I have already gotten over the jetlag and won't have to be miserable during the first day of orientation.


So for now I'll say "hej hej" - (hi, hi) - goodbye! Wishing you the best.




Danish design furniture

The backyard - from inside; the frontyard - from inside