musem

Today started out with bliss, when I learned that the Mets got Johan Santana, arguably the best pitcher in baseball, from the Twins for a few prospects. According to all the analysts, with the exception of the amount the mets are going to have to pay him, it was an amazing deal for the Mets. So, I am very excited about that.
I also found out John Edwards dropped out of the race. I am happy about that because now (if my absentee ballot finds me), I know who I am going to vote for. I really like Edwards, but once it became apparent that he was not going to win, I was moving more and more toward Hillary. My current theory is that Hilary is the only candidate who can throw dirt right back at the Republicans during her campaign(probably against McCain) . I also think she has the Clintonian ability to be president with lots of "dirt on her shoulder." I think that the Iraq war would ruin Obama, but Hilary could handle being harshly criticized over it and making the tough decisions. I would love if he were to become president in 8 years, after Hillary. If Obama wins the nomination, I really hope I am wrong and he is the next Kennedy.
On to Copenhagen:
My friend, Brian, and I went to the Statens Museum, an art museum in Copenhagen. Turns out
it's free every day, but there are some paintings that cost money to see. Wednesday will still be museum Wednesday because it was not crowded. It was lucky we didn't pay the extra to see the other rooms. This museum was PACKED with art. We spent about 2 hours there, before we were tired of checking out the art. There was so much there. I hope I am gaining at least a little understanding of art from going to all these museums. Many of the paintings had interesting messages. Probably my favorite part was how many paintings were from 1300-1600 and were about changing the status-quo. I'm sure that's fairly common, but I never noticed it before and I like to see people from the past looking critically at the world. The paintings in this museum also carried lots of emotion. Many rooms were extremely intense. In one room the paintings were somewhat depressing because everyone was looking down and there were dark colors. Another room of modern art was talking about how America spends too much on defense.
I also practiced my Danish with Christian today. He said for an American first speaking Danish, that my Danish is excellent. I doubt his praise for my Danish will last very long, but we'll see.
I'm still trying to figure out where to go for that week I have free. I've been looking at lots of flights and I'd like to stay west, because flights to cool eastern places like Turkey and Greece are really expensive. I think I'm not going to go north because it's just extremely expensive and similar to Copenhagen. So, I'm somewhat perplexed, so if anyone has any good suggestions of where college students can go to have a good time and see some sites and culture, I'd love to hear it.

Castle, Kollegium life

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.

Obama

I've chatted with a few Danes about American politics. It's interesting because it's not controversial to them because they don't really care that much, so I can talk to complete strangers about it. I met a girl at a party last night who wanted to know what I thought about the election. In the Democratic field, I was talking about Edwards. The Danes I've talked to barely know about Edwards. Yeah, he's losing steam, but for them it seems as though it's always been a race between Obama and Hilary. And, all the ones I've talked to, support Obama. Not that their support really contributes to anything, but I'm curious why. Is it because he has an untarnished reputation abroad or because of the way the international or Danish press represents him?

I've just been exploring the city and today I'm going on a trip to Frediricksborg Castle. I've been forced to make lots of comparisons to Prague, so I am wondering if it is going to compare to the Prague Castle. . .

classes

Just finished my first day of classes. I'm real excited about my classes and it looks like I'm only going to have classes on Mondays and Thursdays, which will give me more flexibility for traveling and exploring Denmark. On days when I don't have class, I will also be doing community service and field trips.
Here is a run down of my class:
- My Service Learning Seminar became an independent study because not a lot of people signed up for the class. Haverford is allowing me to take 14 credits instead of 15 credits because I am doing the extra community service. I am really excited about this. When the coordinator, Hugh, called me about the class being canceled, I was upset because it looked stimulating and I would have to re-work my schedule. But, not only is my schedule enhanced, but he told me I will get my first choice of working at a place to feed the homeless. Apparently, speaking English is not an issue even among the homeless in Denmark!
- My other 1-credit class is Russia: Past and Present, which is in preparation for my Russia trip during spring break. The first class is on Monday, but I can only imagine it will be interesting.
- This morning started with Doing Business in the EU. I like it because it will expand on what I learned last semester and further combine current events with new knowledge of the EU. It was real exciting talking about the US stock market drop and what Europe decided to do in reaction. They are more concerned about inflation than the US.
- Another great class I'm taking is Holocaust and Genocide. We are looking at all the genocides that are usually studied, such as Rwanda and the Holocaust. But the class also looks at Cambodia, Stalinism and the Armenians of 1915. It i will be interesting to discuss the Armenians in a classroom setting since there was such a heated debate by US congress on whether it should be seen as a genocide. We saw a graph showing civilian killings over a certain time period, compared to annual killings, showing that Stalinism can be viewed a genocide, so that will be cool to study.
- Haverford makes us take the language of whatever country we are in, so I have to take Danish. It's really frustrating for me because I had to take Czech last semester and I took Spanish when I was freshman. I always understand what's going on, but I have a lot of trouble memorizing and pronouncing. The professor seems reasonable and patient, so maybe a foreign language will finally come together for me.
- Things were complicated today because I had to figure out what my final class would be. I went to this class about criminology in Scandanavia that was really interesting. I've never taken a criminology class before and wouldn't have the opportunity to at Haverford. I've also seen the criminal justice system first hand in the US through the PD's office, so I was fairly certain I was taking the class, especially once the lecture interested me.
However, at the end of the day I went to the terrorism and counter terrorism class, just to make sure I was making the right decision. The terrorism class was mostly discussion and I was actually getting really frustrated with the professor because he did not consider hate crimes(for example a man randomly killing blacks or gays) terrorism, but considered attacking a government official terrorism. I was frustrated through the entire class, but despite that it was the end 7 hours of class with barely any sleep, I was deeply involved and interested in the debate. After class I went and spoke to the prof about it, and he somewhat explained elevating the acts of terrorists as political importance. So, killing random blacks would not be terrorism because there is no message for a policy change. I do not completely agree on his definition of terrorism for differing communities (country vs. ethnicity), but for the political scope of the class, I see why a definition like that is necessary. I could go on and on about this, but I won't do that here.
Although I was torn between the criminology class and the terrorism class, the fact that I'm still somewhat heated about the class and could write a lot about it makes me sure I want to take it.
I am about to go use the Kollegium gym, then I'll reheat some of food I made last night and maybe check out the town bar. I have no class tomorrow, so plan on using the day to explore the town around my Kollegium, Albertslund. Tomorrow night, we have a DIS party, so I'll hang around Copenhagen at night.

exchange rate

Also, should probably mention this. Mom was right, Copenhagen is really expensive. It's on a Krownish currency, like Prague, and all the prices look similar. For example, in both places a cheap beer is 20 kroner. However, the Prague exchange rate is 20 kroner to 1USD, while the Copenhagen exchange rate is 5 kroner to 1 USD.
Let's just say I haven't paid for my own sit down dinner yet. I got lunch from a stand the first day here and have had two meals provided by DIS. Other than that, I've only been eating grocery store food, which isn't cheap either.

Denmark so far.

Welcome to my Blog. I'll try to post on here, periodically, but we'll see how busy I get. If you are a potential employer and searched for me, please hire me.

So Denmark. . I've been here since Sunday. I've been so busy. We've had survival Danish for 3 hours a day and tons of lectures, getting organized and such. Today, I had the survival Danish and the lecture for the business and economics program I am in. It looks really exciting. They take us on a study trip the first week of spring break in March. I chose to go to London and Brussels because I haven't been there. They also had us write down our expectations and hopes for the program and businesses we'd like to visit through the program. Hopefully they'll take my requests of visiting socially conscious businesses into consideration.

Yesterday I had survival Danish, then lectures on living in the Kollegium and then I went to a cafe with my Danish class. They don't say please or tap glasses when they toast. They also eat with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other and don't praise the meal until it is done. Unfortunately, I already forgot how to say it in Danish.

I live in a Kollegium about 20 minutes outside of Copenhagen. A lot of fellow DIS students don't like it, but I love it. I think those who don't like it are just adjusting to traveling and being away from home. It made up of many individual buildings and I have a pretty big room. I lucked out, because my building had 3 other DIS students. Two of them I'm friends with, so adjusting should be easier. Danes don't go out of there way to introduce themselves, so it's on me to meet them. I've been trying to introduce myself whenever possible, but I have not had that many opportunities yet.

My Kollegium also has a sauna, a weight room, laundry and is located near many supermarkets and right by the train station. There are also two smoke stacks next to it, that heat the whole town of Albertslund. I'm kind of bummed that I found out what it does because it was cooler to speculate what it did. We would joke that we had to put in our time in the coal factory as part of Denmark's socialism.

The social aspect of Denmark is very interesting. I'd consider it a combination of Prague and Haverford. A bunch of Europeans with an honor code. They try to live environmentally friendly. For example, you are charged if you do not have your own bags at the super market. Lots of people ride bikes, buying a car is taxed 200% and gas is 2 dollars per liter! They are taxed about 40% on a sliding scale and have free health care, libraries, schools etc. Not paying out of pocket for college or health care would make anyone pretty happy. More on the welfare state aspect to follow.

Tonight, I'm going to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things, then work out in the Kollegium gym and then probably just chill with people around the Kollegium. I read for my first day of classes tomorrow, since they already gave us some readings, but I haven't even figured out, everything I'm taking. Details on classes to follow.