Ode to SheZone.

Every weekend, when I should be doing my homework, I don't. I run off to Norrebro, to the Hillerodgade Swimming Pool. For 3 and a half hours on Saturday, and 2 and a half on Sundays, I'm there volunteering with SheZone. I'm going to go for the next to weekends too, not because I have time and don't want to see any more of the city, but because I'm really going to miss going every weekend. Sure, it was dissapointing finding out I wouldn't be able to spend my weekends traveling... But this was so much more. I can always travel. I have my entire life to travel. But, when will I have 4 months to volunteer in another country? The decision to volunteer while in Denmark was honestly the best decision I made. My regrets? Travel break, and missing two of the weekends. Now, with only two more weekends left, I'm just now solidifying the bonds I've made with some of the women and girls. Yesterday, before we even got in the water, one of the ladies came up to me and just started talking to me. It was one of the ladies I had worked with every Saturday since I started--she has some problems with her kick. She kicks... but doesn't move. At the end of yesterday, I finally said something that made sense... And she could move! It was the same thing I'd been saying since I started, just in a different way. The smile that it put on her face when she finally got to move, though... Was amazing. I worked with her and another lady earlier in the day. The other lady, who doesn't speak any english, was one I'd worked with a lot just so she could overcome her fear of the water. "Bange! Bange!" She would say, while clutching her kickboard to her chest. I learned that that meant "afraid" then gave her another kick board and a floaty noodle and helped her across the pool. Since then, she's trusted me, despite the language barrier. Working with the two of them on floating, was great. The one I've helped with kicking knows english. So, she would translate for the other one. It was great being able to work with them and being able to build that relationship and trust with them. And, it was great seeing the bond that the two of them had made too. I'll miss the two of them.

They're all such sweet ladies and girls. Not a one of them gets angry at me for not knowing danish (like a few of the danes I've met...) and we try to work through it. One thing that still gets to me though... Is when we're in the pool, everyone is friendly and talks to me and smiles and everything. But, as soon as we get out of the pool and into the locker room or the lobby or to the bus stop... It all stops. Even the trio of girls who follows me in the pool talking constantly... Silence outside of the pool. I get smiles every once in a while, but nothing more. Even their demenor changes. Once they step foot outside of the building, everything gets a little more somber. Maybe it is due to the Danes and their stereotype of the Muslim Immigrant. They don't really give them a chance. I even heard a story of a bus driver who shut the door in the face of one before driving off... When he had seen him coming.

I want to do something nice for everyone there the last time I go... but I don't know what I could do? Just a little something, to thank them all. I feel a little bad, building up this trust and this sort of relationship... then just leaving. It doesn't seem fair. But, despite this, I'm glad I did it. And wish I could continue. I don't think there are any programs like this in America, otherwise I'd try to get involved. As it is, if I ever come back for an extended period of time, I'll be getting in contact.

SNOW!!!

It snowed today. A good bit too. Like... almost a centimeter? Maybe? Its SO pretty :) Gabi, Sarah and I went out and danced around in it. It was much fun.

Other than this, though, my day was quite nice. I had classes... but classes are interesting. After Migrants, Minorities and Multiculturalism I went grocery shopping with Sarah for dinner, then went to the Jul i Nyhavn (Christmas (Yule) in Nyhavn) market... And bought my ornament for the exchange! You'll love it ;) haha. We also walked through Kongens Nytorv... Which was decorated SO well and was BEAUTIFUL... with an ice skating rink that I'm very much looking forward to going to. :) Its in a circle around the statue in the middle :)

The whole city is decked out in the Christmas spirit and has been for... about 2 weeks. Its gorgeous. They counter the fact that it gets dark SO early by covering everything in beautiful lights. All of Stroget has pine branches draped across and lights and hearts... And the stores all have their Christmas window displays up... Just walking through town (especially in the snow) makes everyone SO happy. :)

Anyway, after going to the Christmas market, Gabi and I went back to her kollegium and hung out with Sarah in her kitchen. We made fruit pizza and ate a bunch of it while watching Love Actually and then we made dinner... Complete with fresh made tortillas! Yum! So good. It was also nice sitting there and talking to all of Sarah's friends that came in. There were three (Danish) students that we met and just hung out with. They were super nice and fun to talk to... And tomorrow they are throwing a christmas lunch for everyone in the hall!!! Fantastic. Kinda wish I could have done a Kollegium... But my host family is great too. I shall talk to Gettysburg about this.

But yeah. I hope to get pictures of the snow fun soon (Gabi and Sarah took the pictures.) And SOON I will get pictures of Stroget and all of the pretties that lie there :)

Have a great evening everyone! Season's Greetings!

Random Snow Pictures:

Last Week + Sandholm & Shopping!

Hello! So, life... has been pretty busy here in Copenhagen. Its... the beginning of the end. Its rather bitter sweet. I'll miss Copenhagen a lot and I'll miss my Copenhagen family more. But I'm missing being home and with my family and friends and Washington and Gettysburg... Things like that. But, as it is the beginning of the end, the work load has... Quadrupled. Before travel break, we had reading and an occasional assignment. Completely manageable, allowing for ample time to explore the city and do things. Now... everyone has multiple (group) projects for multiple classes along with many term papers to write. Its... rather stressful. The weekend before my birthday (and my birthday too... ) I spent every minute I wasn't in class, sleeping or eating doing work... And then, at the end of the day, I looked at what I had gotten done and it was nothing. Very fulfilling. So, I have given up on work. Readings have been tossed aside, papers... are getting done (slowly, but surely) and I'm happier for it. Everything (work-wise) will get done. AND I'll have much time to enjoy my last month in Copenhagen (its gone SOOO FAST!!!) I will... leave the boring work bits out of this post, no worries! And, I'll pick up with where I left off.

Warning: Its been a while since I've posted, so this'll be LONG.

Weekend of 8th & 9th. This was the weekend where all I did was work... Kind of. (I lied a little. Sorry!) Saturday I went and volunteered. I LOVE volunteering. I always have so much fun. This time I learned the word for scared . I was helping one lady who was SO scared of the water... I held her up as she kicked across the pool... And then, with her little bit of english, she thanked me. Then, she was talking to another lady and waved me over. The other lady looked scared so I tried to help her... But she kept saying "Banka! Banka!" Eventually, from her grasping the kickboard so tightly, I figured out that this meant scared. So I gave her a floaty noodle and two kick boards, and off we went. By the end, she was still scared, but was greatful for the help. Then, the next group was younger girls. But its the last group I remember. There were 3 girls, who spoke pretty good english, and they basically followed me around asking me for help. It was... annoying at first because other people needed more help and they wouldn't let me escape, but then it was cute. I helped them a bit, but couldn't get them to understand that to swim you needed to understand how to kick... then how to do the arms... then you could swim. Not just... okay swim! But they were cute. Anyway. After all of that, I went and got dressed and everything and headed to the bus stop. The first lady that I'd worked with ended up being the mom of one of the girls that followed me around. So I walked with them to the bus stop. I wanted to talk to them so bad... but I felt back making the girl translate... And, while they were both so full of smiles and laughter while IN the pool... outside, they just looked solemn. Inside, we both work so hard to communicate... But then we left and suddenly... everyone gave up. Beyond smiles of recognition... There wasn't much. The rest of the night I just worked...

And the next day I worked too. Until I went back to volunteering. Which, was canceled at the last minute. However, Megan was there with me to volunteer, and we just decided to head over to Pasha Kebob to get some falafel. Its...rather tasty and one of the few foods you can buy for less than 5$. Pasha Kebob is just a kebob place I pass on the bus everyday and want to try. So we went in... it was a REALLY NICE kebob place with free tea and great decorations... Super. We order our falafel and then start talking to the cashier since we were the only ones there (and... we had to do an interview for class...) He was super nice. Like, usually, cashiers don't want to talk to you, but he was rather chatty! He's from Iraq, and has been living in Denmark for 8 years with his family. He says he likes in in Denmark... but that Iraq will always be his home and he looks forward to going back... once things calm down a bit... After we'd talked to him for a bit though, he changed the topic a little. He spent quite a bit of time making sure we understood this one thing. He explained it many times, each time in a different way. He said that many times when he meets Americans, when they find out he is from Iraq they get scared and act different and run away and he didn't understand why and didn't like that. He said that it is not something between him and I... it is something between our governments. He drew a sharp distinction between the two... something the media does not do. The media seems to dehumanize everyone in Iraq... Which is why the Americans probably view people from Iraq so poorly. But anyway, after that, another customer came in and we'd finished our meals... So we headed our separate ways home...

At home, Amanda was very much looking forward to making cookies. I'd promised that I'd make cookies for her class (which I was going to visit on Wednesday.) So, we made... SNICKERDOODLES! Yay. They were rather tasty. Nothing so exciting in making cookies (everyone loves cookies!) BUT I learned something... CRAZY. THEY DON'T DIP COOKIES IN MILK! I had to teach them. They thought I was crazy. Situation has been remedied!

Monday, my birthday, I worked ALL day. No good. Highlight of my day? I got a box of chocolates from Mike! And a cute little dear from Nara. :) Pretty much adorable. I got a bunch of birthday card too, which definatly were also great. Thanks to Jennifer and Amanda/Zoe/Ryan/James and Grandma and Grandpa! Everyone did a great job of planning so things would arrive on my birthday. :) I also had a panel debate for class... all about media representation of immigrants. It was interesting... but a lot of the same stuff as media representation of blacks in America so... yeah. I learned some interesting things, like how most immigrants move out of what the media calls 'Ghettos' and things like that. It helped me to realize that, yes, things aren't great here for immigrants and there a big stereotype against them... But its no where NEAR as bad as it is in most places... After the panel thing... There was a class dinner... And then I headed home. Yay! Tuesday night was the REAL celebration. Kara, Megan, Gabi and I were all going to go to ice bar. Kara... got pnuemonia and was in the hospital... so she couldn't come... But Gabi made the rest of us dinner (THANK YOU GABI! YOU'RE MY HERO!) and we went to Ice Bar!!! Yay Ice Bar :D As it was Tuesday night... and we went at 9:30 PM... no one was really there... except for us and the bartended. Which was cool. We got awesome pictures of the place and spent a good bit of time talking to the bartender (who gave us all free second drink because it was my birthay :) ) Good times. :) We kept trying to make ice towers out of the glasses (made of ice...) but they kept taking the glasses away... Sooo... yeah. Haha. Great fun.

Me at the Ice Bar!!! Don't you love the awesome parka?

Shika (Deer) Mike sent me! Isn't it ADORABLE?!

Thursday wasn't so exciting. But notable things did happen. I got home from a long day and was talking to Pia, who told me that Amanda had brought the 3 baby rabbits that did not have homes to the pet shop since they could not take care of so many rabbits... :( I liked the rabbits! But anyway, then Pia went on to say how Amanda had started crying because she had to give the rabbits away... And then while she was crying about the rabbits... she had started crying more about how I was going to leave too... :( So, I decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out with Amanda. Amanda and her best friend Anne have started just coming and hanging out in my room with me. Its really sweet. They'll just come and Anne will listen to my iPod and Amanda will video chat with a friend and we'll dance and they'll sing and just chat. Its very nice.

Amanda dancing to my iPod :D

Me and Anne! Shes so sweet!


Me and Amanda and the 'baby' rabbit that she got to keep. Its not so baby any more...

The next day, Friday, was just class and things for the most part. After Migrants, Minorities and Multiculturalism, Gabi asked if I wanted to go to Gammel Torv (the plaza right next to school) with her and another friend to scope out the... INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL! So, of course, i accepted. I tried all kinds of sausages and cheese and jams and balsamic vinegars from all over the world! Heh... The balsamic vinegars? They had FRUIT FLAVORS for, like, ice cream. SO GOOD. OMG. Then, I saw a french cookie stand... and looked up... AND THERE WERE GRANDMA'S WAFFLE COOKIES! I just about died. Then droped 2$ on a cookie. It was the classic waffle cookie... but minus the maple topping. But... it was NO WHERE as good as Grandma's. Not even close. It had a funny taste and was harder and more powdery. I'm still glad I bought it though... Reminded me of home. THEN... Crazy things coming up... We passed an exotic meat stand. So, the three of us bought a... KANGAROO BURGER!!! And split it. It was SOOOOOO GOOD. It was kind of like beef... But with more flavor and a little more salty. Amazing though. I highly reccomend you eat some kangaroo. Anyway, after that, I went home and ate dinner... Hung out with host family a bit... Then went to Gabi's kollegium to watch Devil Wears Prada and chat. It was a good way to end the night :)

Saturday I slept in then went to volunteer. I... had an AMAZING time... as usual. It was only me and the instructor, so it was a little crazy. But so much fun. I worked with the same ladies I've been working with, which is really nice because I've gotten to know them a little and build trust. I had a great time. And, with the younger girls, we've been playing a game like tag, only, if you get tagged, someone has to come save you so you can move again. So I've been playing with them. And thats SO MUCH FUN. As I was leaving, Malou, the coordinator kept telling me what a great job I did and how big of a help I was. It was really no big deal. I have a great time and teaching swimming is something I love to do. And I like playing with kids. So... its all good. But it was nice to have the recognition? Yeah. After volunteering, I went to Kara's and we... did homework and ate licorice pandas. They're tasty. Amanda, you might be getting some at some point. Just so you know. :D

Sunday... I skipped volunteering (I told them ahead of time and they were cool with it though.) It made me sad because I look forward to it... But Pia wanted to take me out to a birthday dinner and I wanted to do that and the weekend is the only time when I don't have class or something I can't get out of... So... Sunday it was. Michael and Pia and Anne and Amanda and I all made the 20 minute bike ride down to Pia's favorite restaurant, Jenson Bofhus. Which, she loves for the salad bar (it was weak as far as options... but apperently the best in Denmark! And it tasted good. So hey!) It was good. And I had fun :) But... not really much to say. Just a relaxing dinner with the host fam and Anne :D.

Monday... was INSANE. I had 3 meetings and classes and surveys to give and so much stuff. I had class... then surveyed people... then found out one of my meetings was cancelled and another combined with the other... So magically, things worked out. Which... I was perfectly fine with! The day before I'd had a Thai food craving... So I went to the Thai take away place I pass frequently in my newfound free time... Only to find that its freakishly expensive (13$ for takeaway?) and, upon eating it, I found that it was the worst thai food I've ever had. It... wasn't bad per se. But... I've only had delicious thai food. And this wasn't. But yeah. After that I had a paper topic/class rep meeting with my core class prof. She's amazing. And so sweet! I wish I could just sit down and chat with her about things... not paper or class. Class rep meeting... I just said things that people had told me to say... I like the class for the most part. I just don't really see how it fits in with the program. But thats not her fault at all. Result of class rep meeting?! TWO WEEK PAPER EXTENSION FOR THE CLASS! Do I get gold stars or something for this? I should. But yeah... Then we talked about Kara & I's term paper. Our topic is Second Generation Muslim Female Immigrants and how they reconcile thier parent's identity and their religious identity with their Danish and secular identity... Yeah. Should be... fun. Interesting at the very least. We have to do atleast 3 interviews for it, so we're going to talk to an expert (yet to be decided...) and then do many informal interviews with Muslim women at a SheZone event going on this Saturday. Its a giant festival with workshops that should be a lot of fun :)

Tuesday... Was a good day... Other than that bit where I left late for class... was biking so fast the chain fell off and it was raining and I couldn't get the chain back on so I missed my train and would have been over 20 minutes late to class if I had decided to go... Haha. But, I hear I didn't miss much in class and the rain made my hair damp... which apperently makes my hair dry wavy. Which was really cute. So, no loss there. Classes... were boring. Except for Service Learning class, which, despite not getting credit for at all and basically ONLY taking for the fun of it since Gettysburg doesn't even recognize its existance as a class is one of my favorite classes. I love that class. We always have great discussions and everyone in the class is amazing. I really wish we could have had more class socials or something to get to know eachother. I did, after class, end up going back to the food fair with two people from the class Theresa and Ben. They got kangaroo burgers... then Theresa and I made plans to go shopping the next day as we split a crepe and a strawberry waffle between the two of us. Great fun. THEN we went to a panel debate. It was between... Naser Khader and Henene Mette Brix... Who agreed on many things... (which doesn't really make for a good debate... but... hey.) They were interesting. I really enjoyed listening to their side of things. Naser is the head of one of Denmark's political parties, and a Syrian immigrant and a Muslim (though... some muslims disagree with that last part...) He basically said Islam is compatible with secularism because you can follow the religion while still putting democracy and family first. (He says he loves his family more than the prophet Muhammed. This, apperently, goes against Islam.) Brix... I couldn't really hear very well. But she, I'm pretty sure, said it didn't. But she also mostly only talked about Muslim extremists and things like that... Basically, they were both very extreme and anti Islam in its pure form... Though in different ways. It was interesting to hear their points of view, though I think the best thing that came of it was all of the discussions everyone had about their views afterward, outside of the debate. Through various conversations, I've reflected a lot on what they've said... and what it appears to boil down to is where is the line between "Muslim" and "Not Muslim" drawn? Islam is an 'all encompasing" religion... which is supposed to define every aspect of your life... So, if you don't follow Shari'a law, are you still a muslim? If you put your family before Muhammed, are you still a muslim? Which, seems to be a big discussion within the Islamic community. Another interesting thing about the debate (which has a story that helps highlight it... but in a very negative way so it will come later as to not skew your judgement of this next bit.) is that they both said that discourse is one of the most important things in overcoming these obstacles and THE most important thing for democracy... yet... if you disagreed with their views... You were wrong. Brix at one point explicitly stated, "I feel lucky that we can have a conversation like this about this topic without a fundamentalist in the room!" Which... i thought just didn't fit with everything she was saying. If democracy is all about conversations... shouldn't you be having a conversation with everyone, not just the people you agree with? Nasar said he wouldn't be on a panel with an Imam. A third lady was supposed to be on the panel, a Buddhist who thought religion was a key part of democracy or something like that... But she fell ill. They were both very happy she couldn't come... Which I just think is closed minded. But whatever. Anyway. Crazy thing that happened. The way the panel was set up was that they each talked for 10 minutes, then they just took questions from the audience. Which went well for the first hour. and the second hour... But the time inbetween... Not so much. One guy raised his hand, stood up to ask his question... Kind of rambled for a bit... then got louder and said something to the extent of "have so and so tell your mom she does a good job giving you a blow job." To which... the entire room responded to with 10 second of silence... When Nasar (who isn't really respected by many Muslims since he's abandoned his faith but still claims to be Muslim...) broke the silence with a, "WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU SAY?" then Jakob (my teacher, the moderator) Told the 'questioner' to leave and that this isn't acceptable... Then Nasar's security went and grabbed the guy... He started screaming about free speech and if democracy is about free speech why can't he say this... To which he was told that no, hate speech is NOT free as he was escorted from the room. It was... rather tense and a little scary. But, as soon as the guy was gone... We just picked right back up. Which... I thought was good. Don't give him any attention... I was impressed Nasar stayed around though after being verbally insulted in such a rude and crude way... But yeah. Thats the excitement... :S

Enough of that excitement... After an all too short night of sleep, I had to be back down town at 8:30 to go on our feild trip to Sandholm, the Danish Red Cross reception and departure center for asylum seekers. Its way out in the middle of a military area... surrounded by nothing. Its the first place people seeking asylum are taken... And where they get registered and everything. There are usually about ~600 people living there... And there is a job center and medical center and housing and kindergarten and a cafeteria... All sorts of stuff. We had a breif introduction... Where we learned about how they go there and get registered... then they get sent to another center... then when they get denied refugee status, they come back to Sandholm... but few of them can leave and actually go back to their country, so they end up living there. People have lived there for as long as 11 years... After our introduction, we were given a tour. We started in the kindergarten, which is for kids up to age 6. There can be anywhere from 10-25 people in it... And they never really know how many will be there each day since they don't really receive word as to when the family is moved to another center or when they're sent away from the country... It was a small room, but nice. They only speak danish to the kids to try to get them to learn that, and the kids go there until they can go to regular school. When they reach that age, they can either chose to go to a regular Danish Public school if their danish is good... Or they can go to the Red Cross school if their danish isn't so good... It was a little awkward just crowding in... but then, I started playing with this little girl. She had arrived yesterday and looked rather sad... So I sat and played legos with her and handed her legos and she built a little house and by the end I had gotten her to smile a few times. We didn't speak at all... We didn't need to. Then... we had to leave. :( And that made me sad. I wanted to play with the little girl more! After that we walked past the tiny 2 room family housing... and then to the giant dorm building where mostly single men lived. The rooms... were smaller than many dorms... And 3 men lived in each room. We got to look in at one room... So small. The computer was in a corner... but you had to step on the bed to get to it... Later we found out that we were in the room of one of the three people in denmark who had been accused of attempting to murder the cartoonist fromt he cartoon crisis... Crazy. But yeah... then we went to the medical center... they all get checked out upon arrival... And kids get the same benefits as Danish kids... but adults don't have it so great. They only get surgery that is absolutely necessary... After the medical center, we went to the Job Center. Asylum Seekers can't get 'jobs' out in society, but they can get unpaid praticums or work in the asylum center. Actually, they're required to do that to get their spending money from the center...But they can do basically anything that their intrests lead them too- including writing for the center's newspaper. Then... that was the end of our trip... It was so interesting through. Its definatly a top 3 educational thing from the semester. I think the #1 spot is either Kirtimai or Sandholm... don't think that will be decided ever though. Not that it really matters...

After that adventure... I went completely the other way with my day... I went with some other people and we bought death by bailey's fudge... and OSTRICH BURGERS! So good. The ostrich... can't really be described... its a lean bird type meet; vaugely remincent of chicken... but with a different sort of flavor. Its a little tougher than chicken or turkey. But still very good. Also highly reccomended. Then Theresa, Sarah, Kara and I all went shopping. Sarah got tired and headed home... And Kara didn't buy anything. But... Theresa and I had a grand 'ol time making our bank accounts scream. End of the day? I bought 8 things. Sweater dress, turtleneck dress, purple leggings, purple leg warmers, black and purple polkadot skirt, white cardigan, black plain shirt and a really cute tank-topy dress that I can dress warmer... or wear in the spring :D I think I did pretty well. :D Look for pictures in the future :P

So, 4000+ words later, you've made it to the end. THATS what I've been up to for two weeks. Its been exciting and... fairly work filled (thought I've left those parts out...) If you've made it this far, you should leave a comment. I like comments. Now, I must go write a paper. Enjoy your morning/afternoon/evening/day!!!

Berlin: The Pictures!!!

Hotel: Its where all the dignitaries stay. And where Michael Jackson stayed and had one of his many bad-press moments.



Brandenburg Gate!



Memorial to the Murdered Jew os Europe.



What it looks like from the inside.



Where Hitler's bunker is/was.



This building is massive. Its impossible to take a picture showing you how big it is... Its bigger than a City block. Its one of the only remaining pieces of Nazi Architecture.



Same building, different angle. Its the tax building now.



In front of the Nazi building... This is what life looked like in East Germany. Its a picture of a protest.



The picture of the protest is put there to counteract this... THIS is communist propaganda to show how great life was supposed to be in East Germany.



Wall.



Topography of Terror exhibit... on the other side of the wall above.



Checkpoint Charlie, that's not charlie though, that's just some modern art.



The French Church...



The church across from the French church. Someone complained that they wanted a chapel too... So they build one just like the French Church!



Memorial to the giant book-burning that took place here (across from Humboldt University) If you look in the hole, its a giant room filled with empty book cases.



Memorial.



This was something important that I forget... It was built not so long ago... Early 1900s? Because someone thought he was important and should be buried in a great cathedral. So he built it... then had to leave.



This used to be the East German parliament? Only... they didn't have one. So it was all shopping and clubs and things... Then they found asbestos in it. So now its this.



TV tower. Built to show how rich the East Germans were!



The giant building Hitler wanted to build. basically, it was going to be GINORMOUS. If you look super carefully you might be able to see the person that was put there for scale on the steps... Actually, probably not. Because he's too small/ the building is too big...



Model of a gas chamber...



River Spree! Its the river Berlin was built on.



Probably important, but I don't know what it is...



Tiergarten! Yes, this is right in the middle of downtown Berlin.



A memorial for something...



I love this picture. See the cobblestones? They signify where the wall used to stand. See the bus? Its on both sides of the wall. 20 years ago this wasn't possible.



Wall... With picture!



Awesome clock! It told you what time it was all around the world. Because the time spins... and the places are on the bottom. Its awesome.



East Side Gallery. One of the pictures on the wall.



Dome on the Reichtag!



Inside off the dome on the Reichtag.



View of Berlin from the top of the Reichtag... Thats the Brandenburg Gate!

Berlin!

Ok! I'm taking a Sunday morning homework break, and, during this time, I will tell you about my trip to Berlin, that was... 3 weeks ago? I know... Crazy.

**Note that these are just whats written in my travel journal, so if the tense is funny, thats why.




Schiphol Airport... Oh man. Nice airport, but its not at all user friendly... nope. I couldn't find the check in, or anyone to ask. I found the baggage check in... And they sent me to the people check in. I checked in, then they sent me to the OTHER side of the airport to go through security. Their metal detectors were very sensitive and 3/5 people beeped, then were pulled aside for pat-down, myself included. I had to check my bag, in, and, when I landed in Berlin, I found that it had been security searched! Lucky for them, my bag has 2 weeks of dirty clothes in it and stinks at this point. But yeah, I made it to the hostel fine. Trying to figure out the transit system was a little tricky... Its a great system (I'll SO miss functioning transit systems...) just, its a little confusing at first. I got to the hostel and ditched my bag, sent people e-mails telling them I got there safe, then I headed to the FREE tour!!! Yay. I love free tours. Our tour guide was great, as always. We saw Brandenburg Gate, the hotel Michale Jackson dangled the baby out of, the Reichtag, holocaust memorial, where Hitler's bunker was, the wall, last remaining Nazi architecture, checkpoint charlie... All in the first half of the tour. We ended at Museum Island, so I went to the German Historical Museum. Good times. Pretty good museum. I'm finding though, that I like MODERN history much more than... other history. Maybe because they don't teach it in schools at all... But I've learned so much about the Soviets and the Cold war on my travels... Its so interesting. Definitely something I want to learn more about. After that, I came to the hostel to shower, lost motivation to find anywhere to go (especially because my hair was wet...) I'm sad I only have 2 days in Berlin though. Its a giant city, with SOOO much history! I really want to come back to visit. I couldn't live here though...

I've run into a number of people, young and old, who are off traveling for a year or more at a time. I want to do that! How do they pay for that??? I found two STUDENTS from Canada. They spent some time in Norway, loved it and decided to stay. Most hostels allow you to work for them and they pay for your room and board. But it can't really pay that well...

Busy Day! Wow! I got up at 8:20, got dressed, had cereal and OJ... and headed out. Hitting 3 museums, a gallery and the Reichtag. All in one day. Aren't you impressed?! First up was going to be the Reichtag, but on the way there, I got distracted by a column with a golden statue on the top... Probably important. From there, I could see the Brandenburg Gate... so I walked through Tiergarten, which was GORGEOUS. Beautiful fall day with leaves falling, leaves on the ground... GORGEOUS. THen, half an hour or so later, I ended up at the Reichtag, right across from the Brandenburg Gate. But the line was crazy long to get in... So I went to the memorial to the murdered jews of europe (actual name. Everyone calls it the holocaust memorial though.) Its a whole bunch of rectangle blocks ranging from flat to over 4 meters tall that are at various slants. There are 2,711 blocks. The ground is all slanted and its dark and cold in the middle... And sound gets muffled in the middle... where the blocks are rather tall. I walked around in that for a while, then went into the exposition underneath. It starts as a time line, then there are personal stories from letters they've found... then there's a room of families and it tells their stories. Then there's a room of names, where they project a name onto the wall and tell the story of that person. Then, the last room is a room of locations. There were phones where first you'd heard a 'first person account' from a voice actor tell about what happened in transit to or at various concentration camps... I don't know if that or the postcards in the other room were... harder to read. Anyway, at the end you exit right into the middle of the memorial. So, i spent a little more time there, then I found the cobble stones that show where the wall once stood. So I followed them/the wall to Potsdammer Platz, then to the Topography of Terror exhibit. Its one of the few remaining stretches of wall. And underneath it they found where the Nazi security headquarters was... So its a long, free, open air exhibit about the torment the Jews went through... Great way to spend a morning. After that, I passed check point charlie (Alpha, Bravo... Charlie! 3rd Check point) then took the train to Alexander Platz, where the TV tower is, its one of the biggest squares in Berlin. I walked around there for a bit before going to the GDR museum, which is a hands on museum about what life was like in East Germany. it was quite interesting, but nothing I can pinpoint for a story. Then, I hopped on the train and went to the East Side Gallery, which they're refurbishing this year or next by inviting the original artists back. You could really see the divide between east and west here, where less money was being spent than in the touristy parts of Berlin. And the Graffiti was good... a lot was covered up with tagging, which is really sad (and why they're refurbishing it...) But you could still see some of it. After that... i went back to the Reichtag and stood in line for a very long time to go up to the top of the Reichtag. We couldn't go into the dome (closed for repairs :( ) But I went to the roof terrace... I could have gotten some good pictures, but by the time I got up there, it was dark... I grabbed some dinner on the way back... And then I was planning on just watching a movie downstair, but I met Olivia from South Africa. We ended up going downstairs for drinks and talking to the only guy who works at the hostel who is FROM berlin. He told us how, yeah, Berlin is nice now... But in West Berlin before the wall came down, it was a paradise where bars never closed, it was quieter and there wasn't required military service like in the rest of Germany. Apperently the West Germans pumped lots of money into West Berlin, so it was always nice and clean and the street lights stayed on all night so the East Germans could see how great life was on the other side. It was interesting to hear such a different view from someone who had been there... Then, i went to bed.

Now, I'm sitting in the airport waiting to check in to fly back to Copenhagen. Kinda boring, but I didn't have any time to actually do anything this morning, so its simply a travel day. I have a day to rest and recover... Then I'm heading to the Czech Republic for 5 days! Whoo!!!

Life Since Break

So, I still have to tell you about Berlin and the Czech Republic, but I will get to that! I wanted to let you know what I've been up to for the last week, since I have been back in Copenhagen! Its nothing super exciting, but I like to keep you updated anyway (and I'm sure you enjoy avoiding whatever work you're supposed to be doing...)

I got back on Halloween! Nothing special happened, I just hung out in the house and slept and recovered from traveling for three weeks. It was nice. I did the same thing on Friday. I don't really remember much from Thursday or Friday, but thats okay. Saturday I woke up and took it easy before going to volunteer- except I got there and I was told it had been canceled because of a life guarding class, so I just came back.

On the way back, though, I just really started to miss home. There wasn't any reason for it to hit me at that moment, but it did. I was sitting on the bus and thinking about how I wanted a McDonalds burger... which I don't ever eat in the states and they're readily accessible here so no idea why that reminded me of home... But decided against it. Instead, I decided to make cookies. I like cookies and cooking sometimes just relaxes me. Amanda had her best friend, Anne, over. She comes over a lot, so I've gotten to know her a good bit. She's so sweet. She doesn't speak very much english (whereas Amanda can ramble on and on in english) but she's sweet. She'll just snuggle up next to me or come and visit me in my room if Amanda is busy. Anyway, Amanda and Anne helped me make cookies! I made sugar cookies... Only I don't know how to explain the difference between baking soda and baking powder and they only knew of one and I don't know what it was (oh, translation issues.) so I just doubled up on whatever one I used... it turned out okay. Actually, they're delicious. The girls wanted to put sprinkles on them, so I made up some milk+powdered sugar icing, and let them decorate them and they had a great time. And they loved the cookies. I... thought they were much too sweet with the extra icing... But oh well. It was fun.

In the morning I woke up first and really wanted pancakes. So... guess what I did?! I made pancakes for me, amanda and anne! Pia didn't want any. Amanda mixed them and anne put them on the stove... it was great I basically just directed them and over saw what they were doing. And then Anne LOVED them and took the recipe and kept telling me how they were SOOO GOOD! She's adorable :) Then Anne went home, and I went to volunteer and everything was good :)

Volunteering was great. At first it was a little awkward because no one remembered me or anything. But it worked out okay. I went around and helped the women that were in the first group with their kicking and their crawl stroke arms. One lady was having a really hard time because her kick wasn't moving her at all. I went over and tried to help. I demonstrated, explained a couple of different ways, body language... everything... She never did get moving. Its so hard because even when I'm working with people who speak english and I tell them to kick from the hips, not the knee they say "okay!" then keep kicking with the knee because they're just not aware of their body in that way yet... And between that and the language barrier, it was so frustrating. But she was such a sweet woman. I thought she was angry at me or something because I couldn't help her. She didn't speak any english, but after class she came up to me and smiled and gave me a hug and said thank you and looked really appreciative even though I couldn't help her. I was a little frustrated that I couldn't help her, but in the end it was good to know that she knew I was really trying and I knew she was trying. And I'm so glad, that despite our differences, we were able to get our gratitude across to each other.

When i got back from volunteering, I decided that, finally, I should probably stop avoiding my work. I still did... but I made a list of my work for the week and wrote out all my assignments for the rest of the semester... Its going to be rough. I have 8+ page papers due every week in addition to conducting 4+ interviews, going to extra lectures, and giving presentations. And the normal readings on top of that. And the research FOR the papers. It should be... fun.

Monday was back to class. Nothing exciting happened. Classes. And Tuesday, again, nothing exciting... UNTIL EVENING! I was a little worried that I would have to sit in my room all night, alone, to watch the elections on the internet. Two of my friends are sick and another was tired... But then we found a party to go to that was free, so we did that. We met up at 10:30 PM... well before any of the polls closed, and went to the bar that was having the party. In the back of the bar was a big room with a projector playing CNN... So we just parked it back there, in the room of Americans, and watched the elections. It was great fun (especially when Wolf Blitzer pulled out the hologram!) We stayed there until we were kicked out at 4:40, 20 minutes before the west coast polls closed, so we moved to a different bar. Where I then stayed until 6:30. The called the race for obama and cheers went out everywhere. Everyone was smiling and cheering and up out of their seats... it was amazing. One of the guys (who was not american) got up on the bar and stood up and started chanting. He switched between "NO MORE FEAR" and "O-BAM-A!" One of the ladies went around and gave huge hugs to all of the Americans saying thank you and congratulations. She was SO excited.

But, the whole thing just made me wish I was in America for this. It was such a monumental occasion. I loved seeing the reactions of non-americans... But I would have so loved to be with friends watching this. By this time, the friend I'd come with had to leave since she had to get up early in the morning. So they called it for Obama and I wanted to cheer and scream and give everyone hugs... But I didn't know anyone there. And after Obama's (amazing) acceptance speech... I left. And the roads were dead. No one cared, in the end. Whereas, in America I've heard so many stories of colleges all pouring out into the streets and celebrating... I would have loved to be a part of that. But, in the end, I'm just glad Obama won.

However, I'm kind of upset that proposition 8 didn't pass. But I'll leave that at that. I've been political enough here and that's not the point of my blog. We can discuss this elsewhere if you want.

Today, I got back to my house at 7:30 and went straight to bed. Woke up at 11 and went on with my day. Checked some election analysis and ate some food... Did some work... Then I made dinner! It was curry apple chicken. Which... I make from my head. But... I forgot how I made it the other times so it wasn't quite as good... But that's okay. Now... I have to read a 55 page paper about muslims in the EU. And write a reflection paper about my 3 week travel break.

Have a lovely night everyone!

Friendly Reminder:

Hi! I'm going to take a quick break from telling you stories about being abroad to remind you to do something important: please go vote. Its an important day. If there are lines, stick it out. And, if you're in line when the polls close? They still have to let you vote. Just so you know. I have already voted, and will be up bright and early to watch as the results start coming in at 2 AM, Copenhagen time. Thank you, and have a great day :)

Amsterdam: Pictures!

Right outside the oldest church in Amsterdam. This 'statue' randomly showed up one day. Its of a hand holding a breast... with a lock to nothing. No one knows how it got there and the symbolism is up to you to decide what it is.



This is just a picture of the hook that's on all of the houses! Its how people move in. Still. To this day, they still move in using that hook.



This was where all of the guilds used to meet. Its right by where they hung all of the people where were sentenced to death by hanging. They also did 'autopsies' in there and one of the famous artists that lived in Amsterdam painted one of his most famous works in this building. And see the side with all of the fake windows? It was for the stone masons guild. It was really prestigious, so to get in you had to make a window... The ones that aren't finished were ones that just plain weren't good enough.



This is the GIAGANTIC house of the guy who owned the east india company. Houses we heavily taxed, loosely based on how wide they were. So this guy was just flaunting that he was rich...



The narrow white house? Yeah... NOT the most narrow house in Amsterdam... its about half as wide. Story with this one though! See the giant house above? This was the house of... his door man or butler or something. He was quoted as saying, "I'd be happy with a house as wide as your door." So that's what he got.



Dutch East Indies Company!!! Now its just a university...



Just a normal scene of Amsterdam. Yes, the whole city looks like this. More or less.



On the top you can see the symbol of Amsterdam. On the bottom you can see my tour guide, Neil. On the middle? It used to be a men's work prison. Where they drowned a guy- the guy didn't think they'd actually kill him for not pumping water out of the chamber he was in... but then the water filled the chamber... When the prison was closed, it was turned into a swimming pool... Now, as our tour guide put it, its a different kind of prison for men: A shopping center!!!



Hidden Catholic church. This one is special though! This one's mission is to keep the miracle of Amsterdam alive!!! What is the miracle of Amsterdam? I'll tell you. Apperently, its famous among Catholics. So, this Catholic guy, I don't remember if he was important in the church or not... asks for his last rites as a Catholic. But he was very, very ill. So, he gets fed the Eucharist (the piece of bread)... but since he's really sick, he throws it up. The cleaning lady comes in, and cleans it up... Throws the vomit in the fire... Only... when she throws it in the fire the bread floats and hovers above the fire... Unburt, unchewed, unharmed. (the other version says that the guy died, they cleaned out the fire, and found the bread there, untouched.) Either way, the preist man comes and gets the bread and takes it home for observation or something along those lines. The preist goes to sleep... wakes up the next morning... The bread is gone! It had vanished... and reappeared at the house where the guy had died. Then, a few years later, the house burns down and everything is destroyed... except the bread. The house is rebuilt... then the same thing happens. The preist decides this is very special bread that reaffirms the entire Catholic faith, and takes the bread to the church where it is kept in a very special silver box. Every once in a while, the bread is taken out of the box and paraded around town... Then, one day, some guy comes and robs the church, takes the silver box... Opens it. Wonders why theres bread in it... Chucks the bread in the canal and takes the box. He's later arrested, and the box is given back to the church... But the bread was never recovered. This church, its mission is to keep that miracle alive. It has paintings depicting the miracle. You can go in and see them.



Bad picture. Funny story. Back a couple of decades ago, they asked Dutch people what their biggest pet peeve was- the government was going to try to remedy the situation. Biggest pet peeve was... Public urination by foreigners. So, they put pee-sheilds on the houses, so if you pee on them it just bounces back at you and they put electrified metal rods by some doors... and gave men little public urinals- green little curli-cues where they can watch people walk past as they pee. So... this was in the 70s or 80s... When everyone was all about women's rights. So, some women decided THEY wanted public restrooms... But for women, the restrooms were much more expensive. So, the government said no. The women protested... 200+ women went to a bridge outside city hall... and they all peed on the bridge. They said if they didn't get their restrooms, they'd do that on every bridge in Amsterdam. So they got their public toilets, pictured above- the round cement building. Only, these were then used by homeless men as shelters from the rain and then had to be locked a few years later. Now, they're just used as places to put advertisements.



Another shot of Amsterdam. Its pretty!



The windmill we visited!!!



The cheese and clog factory...



With lots of cheese inside!



And lots of clogs!!!



Look! Its me on the reclaimed land! I'm about 3 meters below sea level here.



Amsterdam Hilton! You can see the writing on the windows of the balcony 3rd from the top. Theres a better picture of the balcony in the photobucket where you can actually see it if you look at the picture full size...



Fancy columns with latin phrase on the top, "homo sapiens on urinat in ventium." Translated? Smart men shouldn't urinate in to the wind...



Rijks Museum!



Door to Anne Frank house. Not the entrance to the museum, but the door actually used during that time.