So much has happened in the past couple of days. I thought I'd write, right when I got home from the castle on Sunday, but I've been so busy. What's interesting is it has not been a hectic busy, but I've just been doing so many little things. I'll start with the castle.
The Frediricksborg Castle was amazing. It had an unbelievable Baroch garden and was surrounded by water(pictures to come in the near future). What was also cool about seeing the castle was it was also a Danish history museum, so our tour guide took us through Danish history. Around 1850, the Danes met with the king and peacefully became a democracy, which is pretty cool. And the Danish people are generally fond of their royal family because they can't do anything political. There was also a room where the royal family and friends used to eat 30 course meals. They had to at least try ever course, so they would have trash cans right next to their seats to purge. We all got a good laugh out of that.
Of course, I have to compare the castle to the Prague Castle. I would say the Frediricksborg Castle gained an interesting advantage because it had water around it, and I'm a sucker for anything surrounded by water(Grandma's house, my Kollegium, Verona Park etc.). I also liked that Frediricksborg was in a more rural area by the coast. Other than those factors, I would have to give the nod to Prague Castle. It's bigger, basically a little town, on a hill with a great view and I like the architecture better.
After the castle, I went back to my room and started on my work. I called my Danish friend, Christian, and he said they were watching the European Handball Championship. I thought I'd do a little bit of my work first and then go watch the end. But, I misheard him and the game was already in the second half. So, I strolled in to watch the game, only to discover it had just ended. But, it was cool because Denmark won. There was a parade the next, but it was during one of my terrorism class. The loud blasts of the fireworks, was a huge interruption to the class. This ends at 5:45, so there is always some loud protest. Every Thursday, the anarchists rally. The professor said that this Thursday, we are going to get to go outside and see what they are doing.
Anyway, since I missed the handball game, I played foosball with some guys who were playing outside of my room and needed a fourth. I'm not sure how universal foosball is in the states, but for those who don't know, there is a table with little men on it. They are controlled by knobs, and it is like soccer, where you try to put the ball in the goal. Europeans are generally much better at it than Americans.
This may seem obvious, but once I observed it, it was really interesting. Lots of people converse in English, which is their second language, because they have different first languages. The guys I was playing foosball with were from Denmark, Spain and Poland. They all spoke to each other in English because they had different first languages. But, when they had a joke, in many instances they would relate it to their second languages, to point out all the nuances of it. For example, the F-word in Polish is the same as "turn right" in Spanish(or something like that), so they were always saying it.
After foosball, I had pancakes for dinner. A girl in the next kollegium was making them for everyone. Then I went and did a little work. Then I stopped by the guy who lives in the room next to me. He was Polish and his twin brother and some other friends were there. Naturally, we talked about US politics and life in general. They're pretty cool and it's nice to make more international friends. They said they always try to hang out with the Americans who are staying in the kollegium, but last semester they weren't that cool.
I hung out with them for a while and still managed to finish my work for Monday's classes.
Classes were interesting. Like I mentioned earlier, I have all my classes on two days. I like it because I don't waste time in between classes. It worked out great yesterday and all my classes are still really interesting.
After class I was supposed to go to Christianshavn, one of the buroughs of Copenhagen with my neighbor. But, he lost his train pass, so couldn't go. So, I just hung out with the other Americans and then hung out with my neighbors. Like I said, it was busy, but not hectic. It's just so exciting meeting all these new people. Today, I just relaxed and did some shopping, etc. I assume my Tuesdays will be more busy once I get my community service placement and my school work picks up a little, but I'm still waiting for everything to come together.
Tomorrow, no one has class because those are the days for field studies. Each class has 1 or 2 different field trips and they are usually on Wednesdays. Some of my friends and I don't have any tomorrow, so we're going to go check out some museums, which are free on Wednesday. Since half the Wednesdays don't have field studies, I think Wednesday will become museum day.
A few more thoughts/notess:
- I plan to add pictures soon, once I get my camera cord, so please be patient.
- I am starting to consider where I will be traveling. I've been finding some budget airlines and talking to natives. I already found out I can fly round trip to Warsaw for 75 USD, so I'll have to consider that at some point. I have a three week spring break in March. My first week is London and Brussels with my business and economics program. The third week, I'm going to Russia with my Russia class. The second week, my friend Tom, from the US, is visiting and I'm trying to decide where we should go. I want to head north and see Sweden and Oslo, but I heard from my Polish neighbor they are very similar to Copenhagen. I should probably still check them out.
- On the Russia note, I learned in my Russia class yesterday that in Russia right now Stalin has something like a 75% approval rating because of the way history books are portraying the Soviet Union and Stalinism as part of Russia's path to becoming great society. In other words, it wasn't a failure, but just part of the Russian historical process. And, most of the people who lived under Stalin are dieing. What makes this stat(even though it is probably somewhat inaccurate) so amusing, aside from the fact that Stalin was one of the worst men ever to live, is that his approval rating in Russia is higher than Bush's in the US!
- Someone who was reading this asked if I am liking Copenhagen. Since this blog is just public stuff(even though it has a "slight" leaning to the left), I thought I should just point out that I LOVE IT and am having so much fun.
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