This Time There's Pictures!

One thing I've noticed about my time in Denmark is how full the weekends are. Luckily for me, my first class on Monday starts at 14:50, so I have most the morning to relax! Two weekends ago the girls in my host family and neighborhood ran a 5K.

Team Vanløse! Go team!

Since I haven't ran/exercised since before the MCAT ruled my life, it was quite a feat! Luckily I managed to survive and post a respectable time. It was a really fun race and we all had a pretty good time, but I think everyone was pretty disappointed by the goody-bags at the end! All we got was a granola bar and some advertisements! My host sister Sørine was unable to run because she was playing in a hand ball tournament. We went to see her play, and she did awesome. You'll have to google handball because for me to explain it would take much longer than I have, and being completely honest I'm not sure I really understand the rules. It appears to mixture of basketball and soccer, but it gets pretty complicated. After the watching the match I spent the rest of the day dancing to "Bring It On" with the girls and playing in the yard. Usually the girls and I make two teams, put on ridiculous outfits or wigs, and play a game similar to baseball. The best part is usually the creation of a team name, "uniform", and cheer. This time it was the Klara and Sørine vs. Carla, Asrid, and I. I think we lost.

The Owls, Klara and Sørine

I think we were the dogs? Maybe. Carla, Astrid, and me. I just love Carla's face, and I'm not sure why Astrid has a bag over her head...

Following the trend, this weekend was also quite busy! On Friday night, the boys in the neighborhood were running a 5K race. The girls in the neighborhood decided to seize the chance for a girls night in! We went shopping at H&M, and then on the way home we blasted the music in the car. I couldn't help but laugh when Pia, my host mom, cranked up the music. Sørine kept turning it down to 10 and Pia kept turning it back up. Finally Pia gave up, exclaiming "My kids are so boring!" I've witnessed this exact argument many a time in the Tjaden house hold. The only difference is that the roles are exactly reversed. Usually Savannah is cranking the music, while my mom is turning it down until Savannah gives up and yells at her for being boring! Once we got back we put on more music and danced all around the house and I showed the girls how to head bang.

Astrid on girl's night. Never complete without crazy costumes!

Carla was pretty good at it. We all made dinner and then spend sometime playing yard games until the mosquitoes became unbearable. Lindsey came over just in time for the candy, oreos, and Danish TV. We watched this weeks episode of Talent (Denmark's version of American's Got Talent). The next morning Lindsey and I went to an art class with Pia. Unfortunately I misunderstood and the art class was not in a castle. It was just in the same city. But the city was called Helsingør, and the castle is the one Hamlet is set in. It was a wonderful class, and in addition to good company, there was plenty of good food. The class really focused on using color and is structured for people who aren't amazing figure draw-ers (aka people like me!). At first, I absolutely hated my painting. By the end of class and with some help from the ever-so-artistic Lindsey I am proud to say that I am very happy with the final product -- Thanks Lindsey!

My tree! I did art!

Saturday night was spent continuing work on our paintings. By the end of the night though I was very satisfied with my product! I'm pretty interested in trying another owith a technique called sampling, but I'm not sure how I'll get them home! Sunday we all rode our bikes to an art gallery opening. They served champagne and it wasn't even 10:00. The art wasn't very impressive, but the bike ride was a lot of fun. Once we came back we decided to continue our bike riding to the DIS picnic. It was in a park on the coast. Its really easy for me to forget that Copenhagen is on an island, and this was a good reminder. The last bit of the ride followed the shore line, and in the distance you could see Sweden. At the picnic my family got to meet Lindsey's neighbors who were very nice. After the picnic we took the train home since we had already biked about 28K that day. I spend the rest of the day attempting to homework I had neglected and was mostly unsuccessful.

View from the park.

Astrid and I down by the beach.

Klara, and if you look very closely you can see Sweden in the background.

The last week in classes was mostly uneventful. However, we did get to go to the Thorvaldsen museum for my art history class. Thovaldsen was a Danish neoclassical sculptor. He marble sculptures look a lot like ancient greek sculpture and they are huge! Even for someone who isn't well versed in art like myself it was pretty awesome to see. In Human Health and Disease (from now on referred to as "hospital") we took our first patient history. The 98 year old man bounced into the room with only a cane to aid him. I was shocked at how sprightly he was! He was a total entertainer and loved the attention of the 22 American students. He was so sweet. If all my future patients could be like him I feel like my life would be complete! Tomorrow we leave for a short study tour. We'll be visiting Jutland, the peninsula part of Denmark. We'll tour several hospitals and spend the night in Århus, the second largest city in Denmark.

This is my walk to school in the morning. Pretty, eh?