29 August 2010

It may be August, but it feels like late October. it is breezy and quite chilly and very cold at night. I have been here a week now, and it already feels like it would feel strange to be at Bowdoin. The cultures are so different but the differences are subtle and hard to place. But Bowdoin's small bubbling campus would feel very different from my life here where I commute 45 minutes from a little house out in the country to a huge city where my school has no particular campus but exists as lots of buildings and classrooms hidden in little doorways along busy shopping streets right in medieval downtown. The medieval area is really cool because it is the oldest and the streets are narrow and curvy with shops and food all around. it is a very happening area with lots of great and eclectic cafes around as well. And the hot chocolate here is the best I have ever had anywhere. they make it each time with realy kakao powder, and while its rich, it isn't too sweet. I love it
I had my classes in these buildings on friday, and between classes I went with some friends to a great cafe called the living room, where you  walk in and up a few stairs to order, but then you go into a secret downstairs room to hangout, and it has lots of different areas with different styles of furniture and colorful vases lining all of the window sills.. I will post a picture when I load my camera.  After classes, Lizzy and I went home with our friend Anja (from Idaho) and we had dinner with her very welcoming host family. Anja's host mother made a fantastic meat sauce and spaghetti, and we made some good chocolate cake for dessert. We also got to eat a peach from the peach tree in their garden! They had a beautiful house with high ceilings, hardwood floors, and not too much furniture. The walls were decorated with glass art and paintings that the mother makes as a hobby. she also runs marathons. it seems that Danes are extremely health conscious and also extremely environmentally conscious people. they are raised to take care of the environment. They have different buttons on the toilets, and they turn the shower off while they shampoo and soap up, and they never leave lights on if they aren't in the room. Its actually a great lifestyle and a much smarter way to live.
Anyway, we all eventually got dressed up and went to the discotec for our welcoming party from DIS, and it was a great setup, but kind of odd because there were so many americans, yet the music was an odd techno that was not particularly great for dancing. so we eventually left and went to a bar nearby, which had a great friendly atmosphere, enjoyable music, and lots of happy people. While we were there we got to see a couple (with beautiful tall woman in skinny jeans and heels) do some fantastic swing dancing. It looked like a blast, and their footwork was remarkable, especially in light of her high heels. I would really love to learn. but finally we decided to leave and we went to the train station only to discover that there was not a train for me for another 1.5 hours. (2.30 am) so we took a train to lizzy's house instead, and I stayed over with her, which worked out great. Her host family seems wonderful, and there we made some eggs and toast for breakfast, did some reading, and then headed over to my house, where we read some more, went for a wonderful walk, and had pasta for dinner. Their stove is very modern, and I accidentally boiled over the pasta everywhere, so that was a little embarrassing, and then they have a soda maker, so we tried that, and we didn't know to screw the bottle in, so the machine shot water out all over lizzy, which was pretty hysterical. and I think we have got it all straight now.
Today we had some Muesli and milk for breakfast and went into Roskilde to do a little shopping with Tine, and I have finally returned home to finish my homework. Laila is making some Danish pancakes for after dinner and they look fantastic (like crepes). I will try to post some pictures this evening.