London...

So that's where I am now! It's nice not having to study or worry about classes (I now feel like I'm on an actual holiday), but I really really miss Copenhagen. I wish I had more free time in that wonderful city! But for goodness sakes I'm in England! The mother-country of America! Don't get me wrong- I'm really jazzed just being here.
I arrived on Saturday, after what felt like forever (but was really just a two hour delay- that's another story though). And met my parents and wonderful roommate at this huge train station (Paddington Station). We then hopped in a taxi (they are SO cute here- I'll have to remember to get a picture of one) and met some distant family that lives here (more family! It's often nice meeting family because you have that kind of shared micro-culture- you can find a lot of things in common with each other without really even trying). We then had a late dinner at some trendy looking place close by. And that is where Rachel and I had our first official English fish and chips! It was all really exciting. Good food and good conversation. And that was the end of a long day of travel.
On Sunday, we all met up and went to Hampton Court (which is a Tudor palace built by King Henry VIII- remember, the one who beheaded and divorced his wives). There's a picture of us (minus dad- he's taking the picture) below!

 That's at the gate to the complex I suppose. You can see the entrance to the castle waaay off in the distance behind us (right in the center). We just got so excited upon seeing the castle we had to take a picture. The actual castle was interesting! We went because they were doing a special cooking event, where food historians came and cooked Tudor food (then proceeded to eat the delicious smelling and looking stuff in front of us. They couldn't give any to us for health safety reasons, pfftt). Some people still live there, so parts of the castle were closed off (I think dad wondered into one of the residential areas at one point). Anyways, I thought that was really interesting. Could you imagine having hundreds and hundreds of tourists a day come to look at and take pictures of your residence? No privacy, but I guess they get used to it. Oh, but back to sightseeing! What I really liked about the castle (and didn't find out about until the end of the day) was that they had actors in full costume going around doing reenactments. I don't know if it changes from day to day or what- but when we were there they were reenacting King Henry VIII's decision to create the Church of England (so he could marry Anne Boleyn). We caught the last part of it by chance- he was proposing to Anne Boleyn (then he made it official by announcing it and declaring he would establish a new church).

As you can probably guess, that's it above (Anne Boleyn is to his left of course). Very well done.

After that we hopped on a bus (the public transit buses here are actually the red double-decker ones you see on tv and in the movies- that's not just a romanticized version of London. It's the real deal) and saw some landmarks, like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. You know, the big ones. We got off and walked to Buckingham Palace. Oh and while there we got close-ish to some guards (you know- the ones in red with the big funny black hats) and Rachel actually managed to make one of them laugh! I was impressed. And after that, mom, our navigator led us to the Dog and Duck pub (sister pub to the Dog and Duck in Austin). We got fried brie (fantastic) and calamari (also fantastic) for appetizers. I got fish and chips again for my main course (fantastic again).

After dinner we went to look at Big Ben and Westminster Abbey... at night. It was all lit up. Well, just look at it below.

And that brings me to another point. Do you see me pointing at Big Ben in that picture? I kept seeing people do that all the time in Denmark, and I thought it was ridiculous. So that's what I do now. I just want to make sure you notice the giant glowing famous tower in the background.

And now for today. We parted ways with my dear roommate yesterday, so it was just the parents and I today. We got up rather late then went out and got on a boat cruise on the River Thames. It was interesting- the guy narrating our boat cruise (who kept insisting he wasn't a narrator) was a sixth generation Thames oarsman. I suppose this means his ancestors used to taxi people all across the Thames (before buses and cars and trains). That must've really been the way to travel. He was very well informed of course and gave a great tour of the river. We then got off and went to the Tower of London! As you may or may not know- it was a castle and residence for the royal family for like 500 years then it was turned into a prison and place of torture mostly for people who committed treason. So basically it was used as a place of intimidation by the monarchy (to keep people in line and such). We went on a tour by a beefeater (who guard the Tower- they have to have a long military history before they are hired. Oh and they actually also live there with their families), then we went and saw the crown jewels (which were really unbelievably dazzling), the armory, and the bloody tower (where these two young princes were murdered). So much history! 

After we were done with that, we went to eat at this French restaurant (I had steak frites- so good!) before going to see Singin' in the Rain! Ahh! It was a cute musical. We were maybe third or fourth row back from the stage, and so during the actual "Singin' in the Rain" number (water was falling on the stage) we were sprayed with water when the guy started tap dancing! It was really well done I thought. Really entertaining!

And that was my past three days in a nutshell! I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

I'll have more to come later.

 

Last day in Copenhagen

I still can't believe this is my last day in Copenhagen! And it's almost over!!!
Alright, I'm just going to say everything that comes to mind, in whatever order it comes for this post. Just so you know what I'm doing here. Let's go!
I haven't updated till today because it's been a little boring this week. Mostly I've been studying for the final I had today (I studied WAY too much for it. I think I have organic chemistry PTSD). I know I have some interesting stories though! Yesterday I was having a conversation with a cashier at my favorite book store here (to be fair it's the only book store I've been in), and he asked me where I was from. I replied Texas (it's interesting how I thought Texas before the United States), and the guy's face kind of fell and he said, "oh I thought you were a Canadian." Then I asked him "What, do I look like a Canadian to you?" And he told me no, I just sounded like one. Interesting, eh?
What else have I learned... The Danes like to put this strawberry marshmallow stuff on top of their ice cream. I saw some today and I kind of regret not buying it so I could bring it back and show everyone. But I'm afraid I don't have room for it! Man, my suitcase is obese. I'm really afraid it's going to be over the weight limit for my flight tomorrow. I bought so many things. Speaking of buying things, that's most of what I did today. After my exam ended (around 12ish) I decided I ought to go check out the Glyptotek art museum, which is famous for housing a fantastic collection of statues. Look below for one of my favorites!

Do you know who that is? Ophelia! From Hamlet. I thought it was appropriate, given you know, she's Danish.
And I ate there too, in what I suppose is the atrium area. I got a salad... with strips of delicious bacon and mushrooms in it! Seriously, best salad of my life. It completely ruined the point of salads, but whatever. It was tasty. Want a picture or two?

The left was my view from my table. It was like an indoor jungle, which was really nice because it was foggy and rainy outside. Oh man and it was free admission since I'm a DIS student! If I had known any earlier I would have been there every day. Oh it was so nice.
They had a big French art exhibit too! Let's play a game. Guess who did this painting:

Alright, have a guess? It's an impressionist painting (maybe post-impressionism?). What I'm trying to say is I'm pretty sure it was done right before abstract art became a thing. Because that's a Picasso.
Ahh! Did I just blow your mind? I knew his impressionist paintings existed, but I didn't know where they were. I totally freaked out when I saw it. I hope you did too a little bit just now.

But after the Glyptotek I decided to go antiquing. Some of them (the over-priced ones) were really nice, and made me not want to touch anything. There was actually one that specialized in vintage fashion that was really well staged around like three or so different magazine articles about the store. I wonder how often she actually sells anything? Anyways, some other ones that I bet had really great deals looked like a hoarder house, if you know what I mean. I felt like a picker when I went in them, that is, until I got intimidated and almost immediately left. Anyways, I must have looked in a dozen antique stores, and I ended up with a small etching print from a legit artist. So I'm hoping I stumbled upon a valuable item! I got it because I thought it was pretty. Look at it below.

It's not actually that yellow- the lighting made it look like that. But it's a really well done etching print. And I'm pretty sure it's from the 1800s, from the little research I've done on it. I'm really excited about hanging it up in my house (it even came with a nice frame. And it was a steal!)!

I'm going to really miss Copenhagen. I love this city. The quaint architecture, the somewhat reserved, but extraordinarily kind and fun-loving people, and the excellent food. Just, everything. If you've never been (or even if you have), you should really visit sometime if you get the opportunity.
Goodness, I'm really going to miss this city. I almost got emotional- when I was walking around today on Strøget (Copenhagen's main pedestrian street- pronounced "stroll") there was music which kind of sounded like country but in Danish and all these couples were just dancing. In the rain! They were having so much fun. It was just so pleasant.
And Copenhagen, don't worry if you miss me too- I'll be back someday!
Now off to London!

Ahhh!

Ok, so I lied. This took me way longer to write than I thought it would.
I've just been so crazy busy this last week! We went on study tour (to Berlin), which, as I've told some of you, is a field trip on steroids. Here's what I did this week:

Sunday: (man this feels like years ago)
I went with a friend in my dorm to the Danish Museum of National History. But, before we got there we got super lost. In this weird hazy cold rain. For three or four hours. Everyone we asked kept getting the museum we wanted to go to confused with the Danish Museum of Natural History, which was really far away from the National History museum. So we were getting crazy directions which as you can imagine got us lost and really confused. It was really great once we got there though! A lot of museums here are free on Sundays, so that was covered. We only had an hour and a half before the museum closed so we just ran through the medieval and interiors and Greek exhibits really fast. Haha oh my goodness, in the Greek section there was an area on Hercules, and well, check out the picture below.

How quirky.
For the remainder of my day I just relaxed and packed for Berlin. This brings me to...

Monday:
I went to sleep way too late (I was excited!) and woke up way too early (I had to leave my dorm at 5:30), so I ended up not getting nearly enough sleep. And if you know me at all, you know I do not do well without my slumber. I was so out of it! Anyways, my class and I met at the airport and got took our 45 or 50 minute flight to Germany. We then gathered our luggage and took a Mercedes Benz bus to our hotel. It was sooo comfortable- we should have taken the bus from Denmark!
We stayed in suites for four at this nice two star hotel- Hotel Alex. It was in a good location, I think (I never really figured Berlin out). The tram stopped right in front of the hotel. The beds were comfy and the rooms were big so I was happy! After dumping our luggage off, we had some German food (at Brauhaus Mitte). Ah! I actually never had wienerschnitzel (which is my favorite German dish) the entire week I was there. Oh well. We were served some kind of saucy meat and potatoes dish. Very hearty.
After this, we went to (get ready for this) Familienplanungszentrum Berlin, which you can probably make a good guess as to what it is if you stare at the name long enough (it's a family planning center). It was an experience. We had to take off our shoes for the classroom and we sat on pillows on the floor. They talked to us and took questions, then gave us some cookies and tea or coffee. It was just really relaxing which made it hard to stay awake! Now what did I learn... Germany starts sex ed real young, hmm and Germans don't like children.
Then after that, my Berlin roommate and I decided to go to Potsdamer Platz. Which is a really modern square area with lots of restaurants and I think a movie theater. Hey, by the way, Berlin was kind of a shock. I guess since I'd been living in beautiful quaint Copenhagen for a week, I expected at least something similar in Berlin. But no! It was really industrial, with skyscrapers and things. It makes sense though. You know, with WWII and all. So it was like a few old cool buildings mixed into a normal looking city. So we ate at an Australian place. I had a burger, which was pretty tasty. And the prices! My meal was like maybe $12! So cheap (the same thing in Copenhagen would probably be double that)! I really liked that about Berlin. After eating, we just kind of walked around and stumbled across the Memorial to the Murdered Jews (later, my class went on a bike tour and the tour guide described the memorial like this- when you walk around in it, it makes you really disoriented and you feel almost claustrophobic and it's really easy to get separated from your group/family. Google image it, so you get what I mean. It's a really clever design), and we found the Parliament building and Brandenburg Gate (see below, the thing you see behind the gate was this huge screen for watching the Euro Cup). We then found our way back to the hotel. It was a really long day!

Tuesday:
We started our day by visiting the oldest anatomy lab in Berlin! We got a little bit of a history lesson (from this brilliant scientist, who unfortunately didn't really say anything about his own research on the genesis of neurons) and we headed off to the lab. They had a few cadavers prepared for us in different ways. Oh, and I totally held a brain.
After this, we were let loose for lunch, then we met back up to go on a bike tour of the city. And just so you know, that's the way to do it. If you're every in Berlin and you want a tour, use the Fat Tire bike tour company. Our tour guide was fantastic. She had actually moved from England to Berlin because she was so obsessed with the city and all of it's history. So, we hit up all the major attractions. I learned a lot! Which brings me to currywurst! It's a product of the Berlin Blockade. The English would drop food and things for the West Berliners. This included curry (remember, the UK once included India). The Germans didn't know what to do with it, so they put it on a sausage. I got to eat some! It was actually pretty tasty- I could go for some right now.
After the bike tour was over (it lasted somewhere around 4 hours), five of us decided to go find dinner. We ended up at this small Italian place. I asked for our waiter's favorite dish and happily ate it (pork meatballs in a red sauce with tiny shell pasta). Afterwards, I slept.


Wednesday:
We started the day by going to this really famous heart institute. Their policy is to take every patient that comes to their door. This means they usually treat really desperate, late stage heart disease patients. So they get all the strange, crazy cases. Also- they specialize in pediatric heart care (for like congenital defects). They're one of the best in the world! The people there were really great. I thought it was so funny- they basically had a dessert bar out for us in our lecture room. So I'm like eating this heavy pastry and chugging a Coke while learning about artificial hearts. Oh goodness. After a bit of history they took us around to see some patients (there was one guy who had brain damage from heart failure so he thought he was a dog). Oh and they took us to the break area, which was outside near I think the surgery ward. And get this- there were like 7 or so doctors and nurses smoking. Smoking! Smoking greatly increases the chances of heart disease! Just seeing a handful of patients made me wary of being around these smoking medical professionals. I'm almost impressed that they could get over that fear.
After this I started to get a migraine, and it was an exceptionally bad one. So I don't remember much. We went to this clinic. I think it was a teaching hospital, but it was loosely associated with the Red Cross. And they did a lot of bariatric surgery. Oh and along with that I think they do a lot of obesity-prevention sort of educational programs. I mostly concentrated on not falling asleep or fainting. I don't like to complain, but man, that was painful. Maybe I should have just asked for a hospital bed!
After that was over we went to dinner and a show! It was called LOFT, and it was made of just seven people who used to be in Cirque du Soleil. The food was good! And the show had the potential to be quite good, but unfortunately (and this might sound snobbish) it made me wonder if they left Cirque du Soleil voluntarily. Whatever, it was entertaining enough. I dunno why I was expecting their previous employer's caliber of work, but I seriously should not be complaining! It was interesting to see.


Thursday:
The next day we went to Vivantes Hospital. They were super nice! It was just a hospital. They took us around to the different departments. I saw a three day old baby (they're so small!). Hmm what else... Just normal hospital stuff. Oh, just a handful of us went to the nuclear medicine area, and I learned I'm a beast at radiology. That's right. If I ever decide I don't want to work with people, I feel like I could totally do that. We were there for a really long time, maybe four or five hours? I feel like we spent the whole day there. But it was ok, because again, everyone was incredibly nice (they even bought us lunch!).
After that we were let loose for about four hours. So a few of us went to museum island, as the Berliners call it, to run through a couple museums. We went to the Pergamon, which had legit buildings in it (look below- and note how the people near the bottom left look in comparison to the structure). And we ran through the Neues Museum (which housed pre-history, Egyptian history, and other past history exhibits) and saw that famous bust of Queen Nefertiti! We saw so much, it was really overwhelming! I totally could have spent a good day inside the Neues.
We then met back with our class at the hotel, where we walked together to this nearby restaurant. It was a nice day, and we were seated outside near some TVs. DIS bought us steaks, drinks and desserts, which was all really good. After dinner, most of us stayed and watched the Germany vs. Italy game (which, being in Germany was pretty depressing- on TV they kept showing Germans crying every time Italy scored). It was fun and relaxing though. Or, as the Danes would say, it was very cozy!

Friday:
Friday was my last day in Berlin. We did a group presentation and were done with the academic part of the trip for the time being. We then went as a class to a restaurant right on the water by museum island and got a three course meal (which consisted of some freaky tomato salad, good pasta, and ice cream).
We could then choose which museum we wanted to go to- the Jewish Memorial or the German National History Museum. A pretty small group of us choose the History Museum, so off we went. And I am so glad I choose that one. It was really great! There were all sorts of beautiful paintings and artifacts. It was really fascinating. Unfortunately, my phone died almost as soon as I got there, so I don't have very many pictures.
After spending quite a bit of time at the museum, three of us walked to Checkpoint Charlie. I wanted a beer stein and other souvenirs and the two girls I was with wanted to get their passports stamped at the checkpoint, so we split up for about 15 or so minutes. I found this great stein at a really good price and I got a Germany shirt to wear when I got home (I'm afraid to wear it in Denmark because Germany kicked them out of the Eurocup!).
After this, we met back up at the hotel, and took the tram and I think a few trains to get to this sketchy airport. It was insanely small and the lighting was weird and I just wanted to leave. We eventually did of course, and took the short flight back home to Copenhagen. We got back around 11ish at night! I had to make half of my trip back to my dorm alone (I don't think anyone in my class lives around me), which was actually fine. To be quite honest, I was pretty freaked out about walking around at like midnight by myself looking like a tourist. But everyone who was out was just drunk and singing and laughing. It was all very pleasant. If you ever decide to get lost at midnight in a foreign country, choose Denmark.


Saturday:
I actually set off on Saturday to find some really good Danishes! But I got distracted while I was out and decided, like last minute, that I was going to go see a castle. So I wondered to the nearby Rosenborg Slot. It was really beautiful! And I was surprised to learn that it was a summer home for Christian IV. Goodness it was elaborate (as you can imagine). They just had such unique stuff and decorations! I really wanted to live there. Or buy some of the decorations. So I ended up mostly taking pictures of the things I wanted. Like they had this cool wooden (carved) mounted deer head. I mean come on, I want that in my house. And there was a birdcage with a clock as the base! And a ton of elaborate clocks! And the crown jewels of Denmark! Oh man. But the most impressive part of the castle was the long hall. It contained these silver lions and the king and queen's thrones. Oh and get this- the king's throne (left in picture) is made of narwhal tusks. That's right, I typed narwhal. Isn't that incredible?! I'd be jealous if I were the queen and I had to sit in some lame throne made of silver. Jeeze.

Sunday:
Sunday was actually really uneventful. I mostly rested and got some group work done. Surely I did more... Haha I bought some Oreos? Ugh after that past week I really deserved a break.

Monday (today):
I went to class and learned about the cardiovascular system, which was interesting. I then went to lunch with my family who lives here! I was with them for like four hours. It was really nice. We went to some cafe in a pretty square (I had a really good burger!). Then we went to a little coffee place. It was good conversation, I really enjoyed myself. And I've been typing this blog for like an hour or so. Ahh. I hope you've enjoyed it! Because now I'm done for today.

Oh wait!!! Happy 20th birthday Aaron! I'm going to eat a pastry or something in your honor.

Biking and Hippies! (Saturday)

Goodness, now today is Saturday. So much has happened, I feel like I've been here a month! I went on a bike tour through the morning to the afternoon, which was quite the experience. I swear, I almost got hit by every kind of vehicle- bikes, cars, buses, motorcycles, and a wheelchair. It was terrifying, but after a few hours I kind of got the hang of it all. It's interesting, here something around 40% of all citizens ride their bikes on a daily basis. So, to accommodate the crazy numbers of bikers, the major streets have a bike lane that is actually raised up off the road. So it's like a sidewalk that you bike on. The actual sidewalk is raised above the bike lane and you end up with three different levels on the streets. Anyways, I saw a lot. I'm not going to get into it. Just look at the picture below of Nyhavn (New Harbor). It used to be a seedy sailor area when Hans Christian Anderson lived there, but now it's beautiful.

 Oh! And we went to Christiana, which is this hippie anarchist society right in the middle of Copenhagen. They took over some abandoned military buildings in the early 70s and just started building their own homes, schools, etc. We weren't allowed to take pictures because they were straight up selling marijuana in the street and someone would have taken our cameras away (just so you know- the people of Christiana don't consider marijuana to be a drug, even though Denmark does. Christiana bans all other drugs. Oh and only people who live there can sell. Interesting right?). Anyways, besides pusher street (where they were selling the drugs), Christiana was beautiful. There were these forest trails that led to artistic and nicely painted homes. There were also horses apparently (the children ride them is what our tour guide told us). Oh my goodness and all these nice dogs with no leashes just following their owners around. It was all really surprising.

After the bike tour I wondered around and did some shopping. And, oh this is the interesting part- I finally stopped by this Mexican food place I pass by like every day, called Taco Diner, and ordered a chicken quesadilla. And my goodness that was one fine quesadilla. Maybe the best ever. It could have been because I was starving though. But it was so flavorful! It was more like a combination of a quesadilla and an enchilada (it had that enchilada sauce on top and cheese). Mmm.

And that's my day so far! I'm exhausted!

Family and Studying (Thursday/Friday)

Where did I last leave you? Ah, Wednesday right? It's been a busy week of course, and, on top of it all, I had a test on Friday. A test! So, I assumed it was going to be crazy difficult and studied all the intricacies of the lymphatic, reproductive, and nervous systems during almost all of my free time. I studied so much, it made me late for my exam. Then I took the stupid thing and it was really easy! Although I'm super afraid I over-thought some of my answers. But whatever, that's the end of my nerdy little rant.

On Thursday I met my only family still here! They're my first cousins- one is once removed and the other is second removed. I think that's how you do it. Anyways, they were very nice and interesting! They took me for Smørrebrød, which is this super popular Danish dish that consists of rye bread with various toppings (usually some sort of meat and sauce and lard). I played it safe and got a roast beef one (it had the lard/butter and the meat of course, with pickles and what tasted like cucumber juice, and this interesting, but really good mustard tasting stuff with straight up peeled horseradish on top). I learned that I do not like straight horseradish (never do that to yourself), but the meat was delectable! It was really nicely cured, and I particularly liked the slight cucumber flavor. My newly acquainted family and I then strolled around the area, and they pointed out important buildings and taught me some history. They later treated me to coffee, and we sat outside and enjoyed the unusually warm and sunny day. It was really, really nice. I stayed there with them until I had to go to class. In class, we learned about the nervous system, then had a lab on vision, which isn't really my thing but it was still interesting. Oh! And I also learned about Danish medical school. They apparently go straight from high school to medical school here. Isn't that crazy? It's an eight year program, so it takes just as long as getting a bachelors then going to medical school in the US. Also, general practitioners have the longest residency and get paid the most here (which is the complete opposite of the US. To me, the Danish model for GPs makes more sense because they have to know everything).

On Friday I had to wake up at like 7 to go to a CPR, IV, suture and catheter lab! It was really cool- current Danish medical school students taught us how to do everything then let us try it all out on dummies and things. I think my favorite of the four was the suturing. In a weird way, it was kind of relaxing. After that, we had a couple hours break before our test, in which I studied like a maniac. I really stressed myself out over it all. As you know, I ended up a little late for the exam (I couldn't for the life of me find the building it was in), and as a result had to rush through it to finish on time. Our course assistant came by and gave us Danishes and coffee and tea after the test, which was really sweet of her. I randomly grabbed one and discovered upon taking a bite that it contained a rhubarb filling. I love rhubarb in my desserts, and I've never had one in a Danish! It was good. After the break, we had a two hour lecture on oncology, which was probably one of the top lectures of the week. After class, I decided to wander around to try and get my barrings- I was frustrated after getting lost for the thousandth time. This unfortunately didn't help (I actually got really lost), but I took like two pictures (that's an accomplishment for me!)! Below is one of them.

The picture is of Copenhagen's former stock exchange (Børsen). It was built in the late 16th century, early 17th century. The spire is made of the tails of a few dragons (you can see the rest of them if you get a little closer to the building).

Adventures in public transportation and delivery!

Oh my goodness! Today was such a long long day. I woke up, got ready and immediately went to a grocery store and small coffee shop. I got back to the dorm to put my groceries away and decided it would be a good idea to double check the syllabus (it was at that time around 1:40ish). It told me that we were supposed to be at some hospital I didn't recognize at 2:30, which I was fine with until I Google Mapped it and realized this hospital was outside Copenhagen. I panicked, and frantically scanned the page for directions when I noticed we were supposed to meet somewhere at 1:30. I figured they had already left, so I called the intern who leads our class and she gave me some rough directions as to how to get there. I then decided to use Google maps on my phone. Did you know it gives you public transportation directions? Like, to the detail of when the particular bus or metro you need to catch is supposed to arrive. It's incredible. Anyways, so I get to around where my first bus stop is supposed to be and I notice that there are three different bus pick up places (I don't know what they're called) on the same block. And, to add on top of this, everything was in Danish, so I was really confused. I asked one of the first people who walked by how to get to my particular destination. And this is where it got a little sketchy. She was quite obviously Danish (by her accent and blonde hair), but she claimed she was looking for the exact station I was (which is the hub of the metro here in Copenhagen- it's in the middle of town and really large). She then invited me to go with her through some garden area that was near us because she said she thought that was the way to get there. I declined and said I'd just take a bus and, as her face fell, she told me what bus to get on (and she didn't get on it with me). So, she was quite possibly lying to me about the whole thing (to her credit, you could totally get to this station through the gardens, but I don't know why you wouldn't just walk by it on the street. Especially since she said that she had just gotten lost in the maze. Why would you want to go back to some place where you got lost?). I don't like thinking the worst in people, but the whole situation was just really weird, and I am not about to get a kidney or something stolen. But I still got pointed in the right direction! So, I hopped on the bus that had just arrived and happily went to the metro station. Once underground, I asked someone if I was in the right place to get to where I was going and if I had the correct transportation pass, and she kindly told me I was right. I then raced further underground, confused about the lack of ticket takers. Haha, there were these tall, black rectangle things with a mysterious blue orb near the top that I thought you had to hold your ticket up to. The writing under the orb thing was in Danish of course, and all I got out of it was that it was some kind of check in thing. So I held my transportation pass up to it and got a lot of really strange looks. So I stopped and just got on the metro (later I was told that they just work on the honor system. Isn't that fantastic?). Speaking of the metro, it was the cleanest, quietest, and smoothest metro I have ever been on! I got to Frederiksberg in no time, then almost caught the wrong bus. Luckily, the really nice bus driver patiently told me where to go and told me to watch out for bikes (so considerate!). When I got on the right bus, the bus driver noticed my frenzied state and asked me if "I was distressed," or needed help. I happily told him where I was going and he told me to sit right behind him and he'd help me out. We got to the stop and he pointed me in the right direction. It was so nice! Then, someone who worked at the hospital drew me a map to the building I was supposed to go to and I made it to class right on time! It was really great and I'm extremely proud of myself for it all.

In class we had lecture on the reproductive system. Midwives do all the normal deliveries here, isn't that interesting? And only a small percentage of women get epidurals. Anyways, after lecture we did some hands on exercises. I'm happy to inform you that now I could probably deliver your baby for you if there were no person with any sort of medical background around. So remember, if you have a baby, call me maybe.

Finally some free time!

Hey everyone reading my blog! I'm sorry it took this long to update y'all since I've arrived in Copenhagen!
Basically, my last four days have been like this:

Day 1 (Saturday/Sunday I'm pretty confused about this)- Long story short, I woke up at 3 (a.m.!!!) and traveled for about 20 hours then arrived in Copenhagen at about 8 a.m. (their time) Sunday morning. We were then loaded up on a bus and taken to DIS headquarters, in the old part of Copenhagen. We had to register then they took us on a tour so we would know how to get around (everyone was so jet-lagged I don't know if it actually helped!) and we finally got to our respective dorms sometime around 12. There was dinner (pizza, which, for whatever reason was the last thing I expected. It was really tasty too. Just like an American pizza. Actually, like a slightly more flavorful Dino's pizza, you know what I mean hometown friends?) and yet another tour that night that I don't remember. It was really nice to get some sleep!

Day 2 (Monday)- The sun rises so early here! It woke me up around 4ish. It's nice though, because at night the sun doesn't go down until 10:30 or so. So you can really get a lot done during the day. Anyways, that day, there was a grand opening at the beautiful Universitet (Vor Frue Plads)! I stole the picture on the left of the entryway off the internet (I'm a really bad tourist). Anyways, isn't it something? Everything was very neoclassical and frescoed! After a lecture on the history of Copenhagen, we were divided into groups and went on this "Amazing Race" thing.  There was no prize and my group was hungry so we went to an Irish pub instead. I had some fantastic fish and chips (and it was a ton of food. I still have plenty of leftovers). We then wondered into a grocery store and I got way too excited about finding Cheerios. Finally, at about 4:30 I went to class (Human Health and Disease). It was really intensive. We were quickly taught how to take a rough medical history, then were given a patient to interview. It was really overwhelming but also really exciting! After that, I came back and I went to dinner with someone on my floor. We got lost a few times but eventually made it to this really tasty Italian place! The waiters were so nice (and Italian!), they were joking with us and they gave me free bread (free food is the key to my heart). On that note, everyone seems to be really nice and relaxed here. Total strangers will make clever quips about things you say or do. For instance, we were passing by this guy getting into his car and I said something about thinking I heard lightning and he said something like "Oh it's not good to be hearing things." Somehow everyone's always in such a good mood- it's really refreshing!

Day 3 (Tuesday, ah today)- After waking up at 4 again this morning I decided I deserved to sleep in if I could fall asleep again. I was successful, but as a result had to scramble to spend my few hours before class doing the assigned readings! One of our textbooks (we have three) is a legit medical textbook. I'm realizing I know less about medicine that I thought I did. But I suppose that's what this class (and medical school) is for! After class, I had a nice stroll back to my dorm. I wondered into a convenience store and found some Dr. Pepper (which is totally a Texas thing, so it was a delightful surprise). Oh and on that note, the couple times I've bought things at stores the cashiers have (I assume) greeted me in Danish. So I take that as meaning that I totally look like a Dane. It's cool until I break it by saying "hello!" because I can't understand them. I'm thinking I should learn some basic Danish so I can at least pretend to be a Dane for a few minutes.

Well this is a really long (and probably pretty rambley) blog post! But I hope you enjoyed it anyways! Have a good rest of your day! Oh and feel free to ask me if you have any questions about Denmark. If I don't know the answer I can just go out and learn it for you!

Michelle