S'mores...

The other night we discovered this hyggelige (cozy) fire pit behind our hotel.

Parker (also a DIS student) and I introduced our new friends to a bit of American culture...the S'more!

It's hard to believe that we only have 2 days left here in Grenaa.

Admittedly, I'm excited for the intensive Danish course to end, and to meet my host family. I've had a wonderful time with wonderful people and, with any luck, have picked up a bit of Danish. Almost time for a new adventure to begin!

Peanut Butter

If you know me, particularly if you have ever lived with me (holla 4th Sentelle!) you know that there are few things I love more than peanut butter. Sure, sure, oatmeal and steamed broccoli are close contenders, but nothing makes me happier than a (ha! one. as if.) a spoonful of crunchy JIFF peanut butter. Turner House was shorted many a jar of peanut butter by my doing.

So far, Denmark is really wonderful. The landscape is beautiful, the sea seems like it is never more than 10 kilometers away (no, it's not actually thattt small) and the people are easy-going. But...of course, there are quite a few things I miss. For all of my friends who are about to leave for a semester abroad...I hope that this of things I should have brought/considered/eatennnn can be of some help!

Packing:

1. I should have brought more jeans. 4 or 5 pair would probably be about right. Skirts and dresses are nice, but here in Denmark people bike everywhere. While J-Crew tops and shorts are wonderful in Davidson, frat star is not so chic in Copenhagen. Also, since the temperature is between 60 and 70 during the day, jeans and a cardigan are far more fitting.

2. Bring sneakers ... or 'runners' as they call them. Converses are $100 USD or more, so buy them now and pack them. People wear Keds/Converses/Vans with everything. After walking 5 kilometers...you will want them too. I would bring 2 or 3 pair.

3. Bring a pair of fashionable boots and oxfords.

4. Bring a pair of plain rainboots (short Hunters). I brought print ones...which look ridiculous here. Danish people are known for homogeneity, so I think I'll leave my plaid rain boots at home. On that note, bring a lot of socks (wool liners, too!).

5. Bring 2 or 3 leisure books. There's a lot of time between layovers, trains, buses, etc. While it was a nice thought thinking I would read my Denmark guide book...it has served as little more than a paperweight as of yet. Books in English are expensive, so bring them with you.

6. Invest in NICE headphones. You never know if your hostel mates will be snorers or farters (I'm just trying to look out for you). Earbuds save space and still come in noise canceling varieties.

7. Leave your flip flops, shorts and tank tops at home. You just don't need them.

8. Pack a warm, practical winter jacket instead. Invest in a nice scarf/hat/glove set as well.

9. Here in Denmark, the weather is incredibly unpredictable. Dennis Ketterer would have a field day. Bring a rain jacket that you can fold up and fit in your purse, as well as a quality compact umbrella.

10. Bring a backpack. It's wonderful if you're planning a day trip, a picnic, a bike ride, or of course, going to class.

11. Bring a nice frame with a family photo. It immediately makes any room feel homey.

12. Also a few little things...perfume, band-aids, a stain remover stick (really) and a planner or agenda.

13. Given the chance, I would re-pack my jewelry. Bring a few simple pieces that go with everything.

Things I miss:

1. Instant oatmeal. Crunchy peanut butter. Nature valley bars. Greek yogurt with honey and almonds.

2. Pandora. It doesn't work outside of the US.

3. Knowing what it is that I'm eating.

4. Showers with vent fans and shower doors.

5. Blankets. (Here its a duvet and a fitted sheet.) Pillows (I am not a one pillow person at all).

6. My dad's salads. The dressings here are essentially mayonnaise or creme. I'm still looking for raspberry vinaigrette.

7. Diet Coke with Lime.

8. ALL OF YOU!

Kys Kys,

Elise

'Hiking' the Tre Moles

Hej min venner!

The first stop yesterday was to a manor house where one of our teachers Aunt's (John-above) was a governess.

Next, we stopped at a sort of wanna-be Stonehenge; a compilation of 23 rocks (it was 24, until a few Danes were lacking in pavement supplies. Yes, really.)

The historic/scientific significance of this organized geology is unknown. Nonetheless, it was fun to climb on. I was also forced to stand upon one of these rocks while being birthday serenaded in Danish.

A peak down one the roads headed toward the top of the 'mountain.' The 'Tre Mols' (or three hills) stand at an astounding 137 meters.

Notice the completely flat surroundings. This mountain range/dot on a topographical map is actually very near the coast and was formed during the Ice Age as ice eroded sand dunes. I'm pretty sure that the dunes in the Outer Banks where I've been hangliding are actually a more challenging hike.

Farvel for nu! -Elise

Worth 1000 words. Or at least a few captions.

City view from the rooftop.

Looking out on Aahus.

Approaching Aros (Aarhus Art Museum).

Aarhus Church. (i Dansk : kirke)

Aarhus Theatre in the City Center.

A peek down the streets of Aarhus (second largest city in Denmark).

'Boy' by Ron Mueck : 500 kg / 5 meter / creepy.

Angela (roomate) on the rooftop.

Olafur Eliasson's rooftop exhibit: Your Rainbow Panorama.

Interior of Aarhus art museum. Quite Guggenheim-esque, I think.

Fødselsdag og Flødeboller

I have 3 hours left as a teenager. (Using EST...9 hours. But that just seems like cheating, as I do not currently reside in that time zone). As part of my celebration, I'd like to share a bit of my [overseas] [almost] birthday joy with YOU.

For beginners, lets look at the Danish birthday celebration. I morgen jeg har tyve år! Hoorah hoorah hoorah. For a peek at the traditional Danish birthday song we learned in class...see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMRnYQ8J5hw.

In this song, the Danes wish you delicious chocolate and cake. Fortunately, I have enjoyed BOTH today.

I ate two desserts twice today (yes, with 2 ^ 2 or 2 x 2 or 2 + 2, that means I've had 4 [small] desserts). In my defense, you only reach such an enormously important day ONCE in your life. The logical fallacy...that could be said for every day. But I like to think that turning 20 is really something special. 2 decades. A single score. Tyve år!

One of the delectable treats I enjoyed, flødeboller, can be seen below. I've decided to include this picture as words cannot possibly begin to describe my love for this tiny tasty treat. It is, without a doubt, my favorite food that I have had in 2 weeks in Denmark. The first fresh mozarella and tomato sandwich I had in Copenhagen was a close contender but when will a meal ever win my palate's affection over dessert?

While it may look like a mere marshmallow hiding in a chocolate shell, I assure you, friends and family, it is SO much more. It is fresh, fluffy creme, light vanilla wafer, and a rich and inviting chocolate coating. While I could write an entire post about this dessert, I will opt to give two thumbs up and a recipe link. It just happens to turn out that these are mostly eaten by children at birthday parties. What a fortunate coincidence.

http://jack.hc-network.com/forum26/topic451.html

Another Danish birthday tradition is to wrap the birthday boy/girl in a string of Danish flags. The Danish flag is linked in many ways to the culture and celebrations, rather than just as a patriotic symbol. It's also common to wave it while singing to the birthday girl/boy. The traditional birthday cake is apparently called lagkage, though I would not trade my 2 flødeboller or 2 slices of aftenkaffe pie for anything. Each night the hotel we're staying at puts out coffee, tea, and some sort of dessert. Tonight was a sort of turtle like cake, made with (guesses/estimations) a creamy filling, some sort of caramel, pecans and almonds, a light crust, and a bit of chocolate on the edges. Add two cups of coffee, and you have one VERY happy almost birthday girl.

In fact, I've been calling today my pseudo-birthday, because apparently some facebook flook confused my roomate and a few of the other students and misled them to believe that my birthday was today. Soooo, after being sung happy birthday at midnight last night, there was a bit of confusion. Regardless, much appreciated, and suffice it to say that I've received plenty of inquiries as to the actual date. In European style, for the record, it is 13.08.1991, or in simpler terms, tomorrow.

Scandinavia...

Well, I've finally got a bit of free (for lack of a better word) time. While I could be dedicating it to perfecting (ha!) my small queue of Danish vocabulary, I thought I'd update you instead.

For starters, English should really have a plural form of you. Spanish has it. Danish has it. North Carolina has it. WHY doesn't our language? Well, from here on I'll use you collectively to refer to all my followers (shout out PVP/Beavs for being number 2! To the rest of you -- I have nothing to say) at the risk of sounding like I'm writing a fourth grade diary.

So here we go.

Today was my third official day of my sommerkursus at the Kysthotellet. The schedule is as follows:

7:30 - Tasty breakfast. Ymer (pronounced oo-mur ; yeah, try speaking the language, including words like Bofællesskabet) and granola is my daily staple. They're pretty into pork here, which I'm not quite so into yet. I've been surprised by how much meat they serve (something like salami, ham, porkroll, etc.)

8:30 - Danish language class : 15 students between 17 and 27 and 1 teacher. And a lot of difficult pronunciation.

10 - 10:30 - Break. Coffee/tea/fruit. Mmmmm. Begin to actually wake up.

10:30 - Hit the books with a new teacher. Same students.

12:00 - LUNCH. The highlight. Always lots of delicious salads, fruits, veggies. The hotel serves a lot of local and organic (called biologocial, in Europe) food. Water and some mysterious blue juice/soda to drink. It may or may not be liquid kryptonite.

1:00 - Culture class. Today it was on the Danish economy. They pay up to 60% income taxes with a minimum of around 30%! It's vastly different from the US. The Scandinavian model is a social democracy. More to come on this topic as I see it in effect...

Afternoon - HOMEWORK. Yesterday during this time I went in to the town center, the day before I was at the beach. And then at midnight I realized I had all of my homework to do still. Apparently 2 years at Davidson still hasn't taught me time management.

6:00 - Dinner. Tonight there was a salad bar and a burrito bar, but none of my European peers called them burritos! They knew the English word 'wrap' but call them 'kabobs' (props to Carolyn for giving me the heads up that this is our version of a gyro, so I knew what was going on)

7:00 - Program . Today was a Danish music history class, presented by my professor, Henrik, who has his own Danish rock band. Swankkkky.

And then...tea, coffee, cake --- tonight there was a yummy pear and almond pie like dessert (or shall I say Danish. A bit of socializing and some final studying and here we are, at 22:56 (Danes have no word for AM/PM so, like most Europeans, they use what we call military time). This weekend we have a trip to Aarhus so I promise that more recent pictures willllll eventually be coming. Until then, enjoy these shots from my arrival to downtown Copenhagen!

Velkomstbrev!

Hej! Hvorten gar det? ... Here in Grenaa all is well. The weather is beautiful, around 75 - 80 F (Celcius is still a mystery to me). I only have 5 minutes before dinner so for now you all (I say all as though there is a large group following. Whoever you are --- I appreciate you) will only be getting a few pictures. They certainly keep us busy... 2 language classes, 1 culture class, and 1 program (sports, dancing...etc etc) every day (along with 3 meals, 2 coffee breaks, and a couple

of hours of homework) but I've still had time to go to the sea and swim, to head downtown, and

to meet people from ALL OVER the world.

Pictures from Copenhagen (potentially tonight!)