Well, I’ve been really bad in the last half of my time here keeping up with this. Time is just moving so rapidly, and I’ve been trying to keep up with everything. I need to rewind a bit though to catch you up to speed.
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| Defrosting the turkey! |
First, Thanksgiving dinner was a success. My mom basically tutored me through the whole thing via email and facebook and while there were some complications finding ingredients, everything went well. I managed to put together mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry salad, turkey, and pumpkin pie. My host family and the Bensons came over for dinner and Peter Benson impressed us all by reciting every known fact about Thanksgiving until he confessed he had just googled it before coming over. There was much confusion over the name “cranberry salad” which, in the Tjaden house, includes cranberry, marshmallow, whipped cream, sugar, and walnuts. There was more than one joke relating the American idea of "salad" to obesity trends. While I tried to explain not all salads are like that and our cranberry salad is only for Thanksgiving, I’m not sure I got the point across. I still get made fun of for the “American salad”. The overall hit was the pumpkin pie I made from scratch (that means using a real pumpkin, not a can!). So good. Evidence: my host dad Peter doesn’t like cake or pie or cookies and he
enjoyed an entire piece. Quite the accomplishment, if I do say so myself!
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| Sørine's turkey centerpiece. |
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| The bikes |
The next day I met Lindsey and Jeannine in Geneva, Switzerland. I spent like 5 hours in the Copenhagen airport since my plane kept getting delayed so I arrived a few hours late. Luckily Jeannine and Lindsey were still able to meet me at the hostel as planned! We went to dinner (expensive!) and bought some chocolate (cheap!) before heading back to the hostel. We then decided to go out in Switzerland. We walked down by Lake Geneva looking for a place to dance. Nothing opened until 11:30 so we found these stationary bikes that lit up Christmas lights on 3 different trees corresponding to the bike color when you pedaled. While we were messing around on those, we managed to draw the attention of some weed-smoking high school local boys. When they learned we were from the US they all told us they wanted to go to college in the States. Their major questions for us were if college girls were hot and if they would have to work hard in school. Obviously, they were very concerned with the quality of education…NOT! It was pretty funny. When we finally went to the dance club, we sat down (since it was empty) and realized that the price of a single shot was about $9. Any sort of mix drink was upwards of $18. It was CRAZY! Needless, to say, we decided we would just dance, not drink, which led to us being kicked out. So much for a night out in Switzerland. The next day we walked around the town in a mild snowstorm. While the lake and the town was pretty and Christmas-y in the snow the mountains were obscured! It was so sad, I was expecting to see some mountains since Denmark is so deprived. We trekked to the UN, which was closed (as Lindsey said UN-cool). Luckily there was plenty of chocolate to sooth my disappointment. Chocolate served as a prandicle for us on several occasions. It was sooooo tasy and between the 3 of us splitting two bars had us full. Also at the UN I was able to take a picture next to a giant chair just for my mom, so it wasn’t a total waste. It’s no Rothasay Prairie Chicken, but at least it was something giant. We spent the rest of the day alternating between playing in the snow and hiding out inside so our toes didn’t freeze off. We came back to Copenhagen the next day. It was such a relief to be done traveling!
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Scheming....(yes, that's a snowball
in the making) |
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| Lindsey is not impressed with my (failed) scheme. |
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| Swiss chocolate |
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| Whoo! |
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| UN. Closed. Lame. |
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| The giant chair. |
Since I’d neglected school for the last 2 weeks that’s basically what I’ve been doing. I was able to overcome my pigritude and buckle down. I had presentations in Biomedical Ethics and Danish, 6 page papers in Danish, Art History, Biomedical Ethics, and Religion and Politics, and a test in Danish. It was busy, but really not that difficult. Just time consuming.
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| Love Actually night. Snowball fight aftermath. |
I was also able to introduce my host family to Love Actually, which I am now the proud owner of with Danish subtitles! Blockbuster couldn’t find the rental one and it was significantly cheaper in Denmark than in the States (a first!). Lucky me. Lindsey and her host sister Freddy joined us, as did Jeannine. We had hot chocolate with candy canes and holiday movies. As Lindsey and Freddy tried to leave, the snowy weather induced a snowball fight! It was an excellent evening. During the week we built snowmen and had plenty of neighborhood-wide snowball fights. Another exciting event was the trip to Tivoli I took with my host family (plus Klara and Astrid). Tivoli is an old amusement park in the center of Copenhagen. It opens during Christmas time with all the rides, the Christmas market, and Christmas lights everywhere. We got there during the early afternoon, and it was empty. We just walked up to the front of the line and went on the rides! We went on all the roller coasters, some spin-y rides designed to make you nauseous, the Golden tower (takes you to the top of a tower with a great view of the city and drops you down), and played tag in a fun house. Often, we could run out the exit, up the line, and catch the next car or round! It started to get dark (and crowded) as people got off work. So when the lights came on we walked through the Christmas market enjoying the sights, snow, and music effectively avoiding the crowd. When our toes were cold, we went inside for some hot chocolate and glög. Mmmm. All in all, it was a wonderful day, and the best way to experience Tivoli!
It is also Advent, which means chocolate advent calendars! In Denmark, kids get a small present in their stocking every morning from Nisse, a small mischievous elf. He likes to play pranks on people, but if the kids are good he brings them a present. My host family has very generously included me in this tradition. Mostly Nisse has brought me things that will fit in my suitcase Christmas ornaments or chap stick. He's very considerate. On Sundays a bigger gift is given. Last Sunday I was gifted with a bright yellow/green tank top. Pia thought my wardrobe needed some more color! This Sunday’s gift was mostly something for my Dad, the coffee lover.
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| The Asian Palm Civet |
It actually came from the Benson family. A few weeks ago Peter Benson and Peter my host dad were telling me about special coffee that gets pooped out by a civet. I thought they were kidding, since I've been known to be slightly gullible (Exhibit A: The Mutant Beaver Fiasco). Yesterday I learned that they were not. The coffee is called Kopi Luwak. It’s made in Indonesia from coffee berries that have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet, passed through the digestive tract, defecated, and subsequently collected, washed, dried, and roasted. I am not making this up. It’s supposed to be some of the best (and most expensive) coffee in the world. I’m looking forward to trying some, but I’ve been warned by Pia to grind the beans and let them sit for 12 hours before brewing for the best possible taste! It will be exciting, that’s for sure. Thank you Benson Family for the very generous gift!
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| Carla and I made a snowman. It was huge! |
This weekend was very relaxed. I fit in some studying for finals and spent Friday night hanging out with Carla. Saturday night I went out in Copenhagen with Lindsey, Jeannine, Jeannine’s Danish boyfriend Tommy, and Tommy’s friend Andres as an early birthday/leaving Denmark celebration. I was feeling cheap so I was a bit of an aquabib, but we all had a pretty good time dancing and talking. But I’m embarrassed to admit that Tommy may have won the who-has-a-bigger-English-vocabulary-competition we all had. Bested by a non-native speaker! In response, I’ve signed up for the word of the day on a website my mom sent me a while ago. I managed to sneak some new words in this post. Can you spot them?
Well, that’s all I have. After writing yet another paper and studying for finals I’ve run out of juice. But tomorrow’s my birthday so I should have something more to say after tomorrow.
The next day I met Lindsey and Jeannine in Geneva, Switzerland. I spent like 5 hours in the Copenhagen airport since my plane kept getting delayed so I arrived a few hours late. Luckily Jeannine and Lindsey were still able to meet me at the hostel as planned! We went to dinner (expensive!) and bought some chocolate (cheap!) before heading back to the hostel. We then decided to go out in Switzerland. We walked down by Lake Geneva looking for a place to dance. Nothing opened until 11:30 so we found these stationary bikes that lit up Christmas lights on 3 different trees corresponding to the bike color when you pedaled. While we were messing around on those, we managed to draw the attention of some weed-smoking high school local boys. When they learned we were from the US they all told us they wanted to go to college in the States. Their major questions for us were if college girls were hot and if they would have to work hard in school. Obviously, they were very concerned with the quality of education…NOT! It was pretty funny. When we finally went to the dance club, we sat down (since it was empty) and realized that the price of a single shot was about $9. Any sort of mix drink was upwards of $18. It was CRAZY! Needless, to say, we decided we would just dance, not drink, which led to us being kicked out. So much for a night out in Switzerland. The next day we walked around the town in a mild snowstorm. While the lake and the town was pretty and Christmas-y in the snow the mountains were obscured! It was so sad, I was expecting to see some mountains since Denmark is so deprived. We trekked to the UN, which was closed (as Lindsey said UN-cool). Luckily there was plenty of chocolate to sooth my disappointment. Chocolate served as a prandicle for us on several occasions. It was sooooo tasy and between the 3 of us splitting two bars had us full. Also at the UN I was able to take a picture next to a giant chair just for my mom, so it wasn’t a total waste. It’s no Rothasay Prairie Chicken, but at least it was something giant. We spent the rest of the day alternating between playing in the snow and hiding out inside so our toes didn’t freeze off. We came back to Copenhagen the next day. It was such a relief to be done traveling!
