Berlin: Poor, But Sexy.

Hello hello! Blogging has turned out to be a lot more difficult to keep up with than I imagined… I’ve tried to keep a journal before too, and that lasts about 2, maybe 3 days and then I forget about it. Unfortunately my blogging has followed a similar pattern. I’m going to try and fill you guys in on what I’ve been doing for the past month. I’ve visited SO many countries! Estonia and Finland were a trip I took with my core course here at DIS. Ventured to the sunny beaches in Portugal, where I stayed at a surf camp and had the time of my life. And this past weekend I traveled to Berlin, Germany. And boy do I have some stories for you. I’ll have to start with my most recent travels and then work my way back in time. Go make a cup of coffee, maybe even microwave some popcorn, because this is going to be a long string of stories. Good luck ;) Hope you enjoy!

Berlin, Germany:

Friday, November 2^nd:

I got home from class on Friday in the afternoon and packed as fast as my brain and hands could coordinate. My host mom, Jani, drove me to the airport after our traditional Friday night pizza dinner =) I met up with two friends who I had planned to trip with, and together we flew to Berlin. I was surprised; the flight was less than an hour long. Maybe I’m just used to long flights. It was just amazing how this fantastic city was only a 40-minute flight away. Just as I got comfortable in my Easy Jet plane seat, it was time to get off again. I arrived in Berlin around 9:30 pm. Upon arriving we purchased a “Berlin Welcome” card, which included a 48-hour transportation pass and lists of touristy stuff with discounts. That book saved me a lot of money I have to say. Personally, I HATE being a tourist. But on this occasion, it was simply inevitable. I had a little more than two days to spend in Berlin, and if I was going to even attempt to get a full experience, I was going to have to strap on my neon green backpack and stick my nose in a map. Between the three of us, we managed to get around pretty well.

Our hostel =D it was colored completely in bright green and blue.

Saturday, November 3^rd:

We woke up at 7 am the next morning… 7 AM. Let me just inform you that I am not a morning person, not even a tiny bit. 7 am was not my idea as you may have assumed at this point. It was in fact the brilliant idea of my friends. And while I felt like the walking dead that morning, it was definitely a good decision. Sleep when you’re dead.

We had plans to go on a “Fat Tire Bike Tour” of Berlin. Their mission statement: Walking is stupid. I loved it from the start! The bike tour was 5 hours long, and while it was tiring, I was able to see more of Berlin on bike in that amount of time than I ever would have been able to see if I was walking. It also gave us a good view of how the city worked and the general areas of the museums we wanted to go to. Also, our tour guide, Kieran, was hilarious. He hailed from Ireland, and came to Berlin to visit for a weekend… 10 years ago. He fell in love with the city and has now made it his profession to make hundreds, maybe even thousands of other weekenders, like myself, fall in love with Berlin as well. And let me say, he does his job very well. Even though I was completely frozen by the end of the bike tour, I had fallen in love with the Berlin.

Kieran took us to a beer garden for lunch. YUM. I had potato leek soup with sausage, a bread role, a hot chocolate, and a lovely pint of beer. Quite the combination eh?? The only thing I was sad about was that I had to sit outside because there was no more room inside the restaurant. At least there were heat lamps. It started to drizzle during the second part of the tour, but I didn’t get too wet thankfully. That night we went to this fantastic Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. I had never had Vietnamese before, but my friends assured me that it was delicious… And it was!!! I got a simple noodle soup dish, and some special type of prawn spring role appetizer. Mmmmm, I wish I could eat it all over again. The restaurant was very trendy… ****NAME??***** After dinner we hurried over to a church where we heard they sometimes held concerts, and we had previously bought tickets for the “concert” tonight. I think this is where the language barrier began to give us some issues. We were expecting an orchestra concert of sorts… that was not the case. We entered the church, not to a bigger room that we were expecting, but a rather small chapel room with. We had not bought tickets to an orchestra concert, but a church service. There was a conductor, a chorus and an organ. We were probably the youngest people in the church, everyone else looked like grandparents. While it was not the orchestra concert that I was expecting, it was still a treat for my ears.

We finally got back to the hostel at around 10pm and we were exhausted, but we still wanted to go out of course. We honestly couldn’t bring ourselves to go back into town, and thankfully the hostel had a bar…. And it was karaoke night. WIN. Did we sing? …yes. Were we good? …No. Was it loads of fun?? …ABSOLUTELY. We sang the Bohemian Rhapsody and Somebody To Love by Queen. And our stage name was Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice ;D  …Power Puff Girls anyone??? It was a really fun night, and we still got to bed at a reasonable time (at least we thought it was reasonable, you might have a different definition) ;)

Sunday, November 4^th:

That morning we forced ourselves out of bed and ate at the buffet breakfast in the hostel. Then we ventured out to the East Side Gallery. This was my favorite visit (next to the bike tour). The remains of the Berlin wall had been decorated and painted with breathtaking art. Some sections were brightly colored, some I couldn’t even make heads or tails of, and some even made me cringe. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the East Side Gallery we made our way back into the center of town and went to the DDR museum. Okay, I don’t know about you guys, maybe I’m just really bad at history, but a first I thought, Dance Dance Revolution museum??? No Sarah…. No. It really stands for Deutsche Demokratische Republik. It was an interactive museum where people can go and see what it was like to live during the socialist regime in Berlin.

**INSERT DDR PHOTOS**

For lunch we feasted on Germany’s famous currywurst . We weren’t sure what exactly to expect, but it was DELICIOUS.

**PICTURE OF CURRYWURST**

After our fantastic lunch, we ventured to Checkpoint Charlie. It was the crossing point between East and West Berlin. Many people tried and failed trying to cross this boarder. But the people who did manage to successfully cross the boarder had the most amazing stories. People hid in enlarged gas tanks of cars, squeezed into dashboards, lay inside suitcases, and even managed to fake their identity.

People crossed the boarder by pretending to be a cow!! Imagine asking someone how they crossed the boarder... "My buddy was the front of the cow, and I got the butt. I was a cow butt." But hey, it worked!

Even though we loved Checkpoint Charlie, we were tired of museums, so we decided to try and find a well-known Christmas market near one of the main metro stations. They had rides, food, beer (obviously =P), hats and scarves, and tents with random gifts. My favorite tent was one of the more unique ones; it sold these beautiful star-shaped paper lamps. I couldn’t stop myself from buying one. They looked so plain when they were folded up, but once you add light, they become vibrant glowing stars.

It was quite cold outside at that point, so we decided it was time to grab some dinner. Kieran, our bike tour guide, had also suggested this Asian tapas restaurant. I only found out what tapas was about a month ago. My friend said to me, “we should go to a tapas bar!” and at first I thought she had said, “toppless bar”…… I thought she was crazy. I guess I wasn’t hiding my horror well enough, and she quickly corrected herself and explained what it was. It’s basically a series of small dishes. So, after you’ve had or shared these dishes with your friends, you suddenly have a large food baby. When I have a food baby, I always name it Beatrice. Food babies don’t deserve to have pretty names. ***Disclaimer: If your name is Beatrice and you are reading this, I apologize. Get mad at your parents, not me.*** Anywhoo, we got about 9 dishes, 3 per person. Mmmmmm, it was soooo yummy.

We called it a night after that and went back to the hostel, packed, and were in bed by 10pm. Call us the most boring college students ever, but you could also say we are also the most responsible… After all, we did have to wake up at 4am the next morning. Sounds fun right? We had a flight at 7am, and we arrived back in Copenhagen at 8am where I went straight to my 10am class. Choosing this oddly timed flight also saved me about $80, so it was worth it.

I wish I had more time to spend in Berlin, it truly was an amazing city and I absolutely think everyone should visit if they have the chance. Thanks for reading =) Hope you enjoyed it!

Xoxo,

Sarah

Chill Danes vs. Uptight Americans

As I sit here in the Studenterhuset, or the Student House in english, enjoying my 20 kroner latte waiting for my next class 5 hours from now, I figured I had enough time to go on a little rant about Denmark versus America.

I have decided to study public health here in Denmark. While my major back home is business with a concentration in marketing, my minor is public health. If I really had things my way, I would be majoring in public health, but unfortunately my school does not offer that. My school also really only offered one class specifically geared towards public health, so I thought, Denmark is known for their fantastic universal health care system, why not study there instead? I have yet to regret this decision. The health care system in Denmark is fascinating, especially because it is the polar opposite of private health care in the U.S. I could entirely write in depth on everything I’ve learned so far about health care here, but I don’t want to bore you too much. Their health care isn’t the only thing different from the U.S., it’s also the people and their way of life. So now, just because I’ve had a burning desire to talk about this, I’m gonna go on a rant as to how and why Danes are so different in the best possible way.

I clearly remember the first time I noticed something that was a little off… I remember it so well because it pissed me off for a week. I have no idea why it got to me so much, but it just plain old annoyed me. I was sitting down on a bench after a concert next to this group of people, and the table was a little packed. One woman got up and I thought she was leaving for good so I scooted over a bit, happy for some extra room to spread out. Several minutes later the woman came back and instead of saying “excuse me, can I have my seat back” (or something along those lines), she actively nudged me and said “move.” Now, most Americans, like myself, would find this rude. Of course I happily would have moved if she had only asked, but that was not the case. I know this rant might sound pitiful, but it actually says a lot about Danes.

It was not until a couple weeks later when I was in my Danish 101 class that I found out that this was normal. Danes are not very social in public, unless they are with friends of course. But what I mean is that they don’t talk with other people when they are out and about on trains or buses or just walking around. They keep to themselves. After the initial annoyance with the bench incident, this nudging thing happened many times. I take the train to my classes in the city, and it’s usually pretty packed and quiet. If I’m sitting on the outside of a seat and the person next to me on the inside wants to get off at the next stop, they will start to noisily pack their things and make it obvious that they want me to move to let them get by. They will do almost anything to not talk to you. Now that I know this, I think it’s pretty funny, and I no longer consider it rude because that’s just the way things are here. Danes are quiet and modest in public, they are very conscientious about how their actions might effect other people. So, lesson #1, Danes don’t talk in public, so pay attention to social cues and don’t be offended when they do something you would consider impolite.

Also, just adding to the train atmosphere before I forget… If you get on the train, and you find yourself sitting in the quiet section, BE QUIET. I usually take the train alone so I have no reason to talk whatsoever, but there was one occasion when I noticed that the person sitting across from me was from DIS too, so of course I said hello. Bad decision. As soon as I uttered the words, “Hi! You’re part of DIS too?” Even though I said them relatively softly, every head in the compartment turned to look at me. Can you say, AWKWARD??? Needless to say, the conversation was very short. People use the quiet section of the train to do work, sleep, or just think in a calm environment. I’ve heard stories of other DIS students from the states going into the quiet sections of trains and actively getting kicked out for talking loudly. My Danish teacher even admitted that that might have been a bit harsh. But still, when in Denmark, do as the Danes do.

In one of my earlier posts noted that Denmark is known to be the happiest country in the world. I NOW KNOW WHY. I feel like I’ve unlocked Pandora’s box. Everything makes sense now! The only way to really sum it up is to say that money is NOT a factor here in Denmark. I don’t know how to write down everything, so I’m just going to make some lovely bullet points:

- Lesson #2: Education is FREE, and on top of that, people are PAID to be students *envy.* Going to college here is free because it is paid with taxes. And the state knows that students don’t have much time to work, so they even give them a monthly stipend of around 6,000 kroner, which is roughly $1,000. This system doesn’t put any pressure on Danes. It allows them to study what they want to study and when they want to do it. It’s not a big deal to take a year or two off and travel or work. This system also allows students to figure out what they want to become at whatever pace if comfortable for them. And boy do I envy that. In the states, it is socially acceptable to enter college right after high school. People can take a year off, but it’s rare. Danes wind up doing what makes them happy. Not to mention the fact that they don’t have thousands of dollars in loans looming over their heads when they leave college.

- Lesson #3: As I mentioned before, health care is also free. Doctor visits, surgery, emergency treatment, almost everything is taken care of by the state. The only downside may be waiting lists for treatment or doctor visits, but overall the health care in Denmark allows Danes the opportunity to stay healthy throughout their lives. Again, I could keep going but I don’t want to bore you =P

- Lesson #4: Danes are chill. They just are. Because money is not an issue, they don’t have much to worry about. They just have a good time. I have a theory for this. The drinking age in Denmark starts at 16, where they can purchase beer and other “light” alcoholic beverages. At the age of 18, they can buy hard liquor like vodka and aquavit. Because it’s legal for them to start drinking at an earlier age, they go out more. Because they start going out with their friends to bars and parties at such a young age, they learn to take of themselves earlier on. Families are very close and trusting, so parents allow their children to go out and have a good time, trusting their kids to make the right choices, and if they don’t, then they learn from it. Danes have to start making responsible choices for themselves at a young age, therefore making them more mature compared to Americans of the same age. I have met many Danes my own age at this point, and they all seem so advanced in maturity compared to myself. I always have to ask them how old they are because while they might seem 25 to me, they are actually only 20.

- Lesson #5: Danes don’t dwell on the little things. As you read earlier, I was instantly annoyed with the bench incident. If I were a true Dane, I would build a bridge and get over it. Biking is very popular here, so accidents are just bound to happen. People get cut off and bumped into, but what I’ve noticed is that the Danes look annoyed for a second, and then just get over it. They don’t really even say anything, they just keep going.

- I recently read an article on why Danes are so happy, and their main finding was because they don’t have high expectations. Lesson #7: Danes don’t expect or take more than they need. In America, people are always striving to make a lot of money so that they can have a comfortable or luxurious life style. Here in Denmark, people just aim for comfortable, and don’t worry about money so much because they know they can fall on the welfare system if they really have to. The average workweek is 37 hours, and they get 6 weeks of vacation. Think about that. Let that sink in. Kinda jealous?? Me too. They spend time with their family and friends, eating and drinking to their hearts content. And while the taxes here are ridiculously high, after what I’ve learned, it seems so worth it.

- Lesson #6: Danes love candles. There’s no explanation to this. They just do. It’s a very catchy trend, I’m now wondering why I never used candles before. They create a warm and cozy atmosphere, also known as “hygge” to the Danes.

Me lovin' the candles in the Studenterhuset.

I can't think of any other major differences for now, but if I do (and I'm sure I will) I will definitely mention it later on. Overall, I love the lifestyle of the danes. They are laid back and really try to do things that make them happy. The welfare system allows them to live comfortably, no matter how much money they make. If a Dane wants to do something, they can do it, they just have to want it.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo, 

Sarah 

August 26th to September 2nd: Tivoli and Copenhagen

Soooo, I've been MIA for almost a month... I finally have a break to sit down for a couple hours and spill my guts about everything that has happened since August. Hmmmm, I'm having some serious difficulty trying to think of how and where to start writing... That's what I get for ignoring my blog for this long... AHHH >.<  

OK. Here goes nothing. Hope you can follow =)

August 26th to September 2nd

So, the day after my last post, my host family treated me to a magical day in Tivoli -- one of Denmark's most famous amusement parks. Upon receiving my all access pass I entered Tivoli prepared to take full advantage of every ride and game. There was no mercy. I was taking TIvoli for all it had to offer and it was going to be happy about it. I LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS. Tivoli seemed like absolute heaven and I had enough energy to go on every ride ten times! ...... or so I thought. Several hours later I was completely pooped. I definitely had a lot of energy entering Tivoli, but I think one ride in particular stole all of my spirits. VERTIGO. Although my family loved rollercoasters, even this one was out of their league. But not for Sarah Degginger. She is fearless... Or so she thought... See what she has seen!! -- http://www.tivoli.dk/composite-8596.htm -- I was SO terrified at first, especially because I was going alone. But I can't blame Rasmus or Caroline for not wanting to go on this ride, it looked like the soaring planes of death. I was relatively sure I wasn't waiting on line for my turn to die... Anyways, because I was alone I got to cut people :-D wait...not literally cut them...I mean cut them in line, like go ahead of them. Soo, yea, I did that and got into a plane with three other swedish boys about my age. They were super hilarious. They were more terrified than I was. This is how some of the dialogue went, just to give you an idea:

Me: "Hi! ...... Do you speak english???"
Swedish Boyz: "Ohhhh!!! Americano!!!! Yes yes we speak english. We're scared shittless. Do you know any swedish?"
Me: "Nope."
Swedish Boyz: "Then you will learn some today!! You see, we will be cursing the entire time, so you will learn swedish swear words!!"
Me: "Awesome!"

That's just a bit of our dialogue. Intelligent right?? Anyways, there was no backing out at that point. I sat down, harnessed in, and tried to prepare myself for what would happen next. Well, I must say.... BEST RIDE EVER. It was so amazing and crazy and fun. It literally took my breath away haha. It looks a lot scarier than it actually is. I highly suggest it ;)

After that we just walked around Tivoli until the evening hours and went on all the other rides. We ate at a restaurant that overlooked Tivoli gardens, which was unbelievably beautiful. I wish I had taken more pictures. Tivoli is supposedly the place where Walt Disney got the inspiration to make Disneyland. The flowers in it seemed unreal. They were all perfect and so odd looking. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland.

Cool right?? I could have spent a while admiring these flowers and taking pictures of them. But my stomach's relentless growling for food eventually won out. We left Tivoli late that night and arrived home sometime after 11:00pm. 

I spent the rest of the weekend getting settled and relaxing. That was my first week of classes. My schedule is as follows:

Mon/Thurs: 

- Health Care Prioritization in Northern Europe -- my core course.

- Danish Language and Culture 101 -- yayy danishhh!

- International Marketing and Branding -- my professor is awesome.

Tues/Fri:

- Public Health Ethics -- it's fun to argue.

- Nordic Mythology -- yeaaa be jealous.

I've met countless students from all over the States. I'm trying to keep track of everyone...names aren't my strong suit. This is where Facebook comes in. Facebook saves lives. Thank you Mark Zuckerberg. 

Vestergade 7 - DIS home base. 

Vestergade is actually pronounced "vestergaele." When I asked for directions in the beginning every danish person looked at me like I was insane. Pronunciation counts!! For example, kylling is the danish word for chicken. However many Americans pronounce it as "killing," which in danish means "kitten." So, when you go to a cafe and order a sandwich with kitten, they will look at you funny. Kylling is more pronounced "Kulling." A little Danish 101 for you guys. 

And since the first week I have discovered the Studenterhuset which gives 20 DKK lattes ($3.50)- extremely cheap here in CPH. I once paid $8 for a small latte....never again. I also found a bakery around the corner that gives DIS students a 20% discount..... I go there once a week and treat myself to something delicious. My most recent treat:

Yes yes yes... It was yummy. Be jealous.

I will write about the next two weeks in a later post. This was all I had time for today! Hope you enjoyed it =)

Preview of whats to come: LADY GAGA

New City. New Life. Get Used To It Babe.

The last time you heard from me, I had gone to this crazy-insane music festival and a LOT has happened since then. I've met my new Danish family, said goodbye to my American family :( , met tons of people, and I've been intensely exploring Copenhagen for the past four days.

Last Saturday I said my goodbyes at the train station to all of my Danish family. It was sad leaving, but I was also extremely excited and nervous to meet my new Danish family in just a couple of hours. When we arrived in Køge, Henrik and Jani were waiting on the platform. All I could think was, "These people are strangers. How are they supposed to become my family? ... WEIRD."  Well, I've been living with them for a week now and I can definitely see the potential.

From the left, Rasmus, Jani, Henrik, and Caroline.

My host mom, Jani, is very nice :) She is a hairdresser a couple days during the week, so if I ever need a haircut while I'm here, I know who to go to ;D. My host dad, Henrik, works at a car dealership full-time, so I see him in the morning and when I get back from school. I have two host siblings, Caroline and Rasmus. Caroline is 13 and can speak english pretty darn well. I was surprised. When I arrived at the house she had painted her nails in American flags. It was awesome. Rasmus is 9, he started out being pretty quiet, but now it's evident that he is the clown in the family. He's such a goofball, he's hilarious. This is his first year taking english in school, so I try to speak danish to him when I can. 

The Madsen's are EXTREMELY healthy. They have smoothies every morning for breakfast (which I thoroughly enjoy) and a salad at dinner. They also exercise tons: the gym, running, soccer, cycling, spinning, everything. I get enough exercise just getting to and from the city every day. I have a 45 minute to an hour commute to my classes. It's longer than I expected but I make it work. 

MY ROOM IS AWESOME. Sorry, I just had to put that in shouty capitals because that's what I'm thinking right now. It's about the size of a single dorm room in college, I have a full size bed, a dresser and closet, AND, wait for it........... A GIGANTIC FLATSCREEN TV. I was shocked when I saw it (if you couldn't already tell from my shouty capitals). The funny thing is though, is that I have yet to even turn it on. What's wrong with me??? I cleaned my room just to take some pictures to show you guys, so appreciate them!!! :P

I have plenty of storage. IT'S AWESOME. I don't think I've ever been quite this organized.

My beautiful television =D

My bed.....obviously.

I have this shelf right above my bed, there are pretty flowers. And the piece of paper is a note from the family that I found upon entering my room. It says, "WELCOME SARAH! We hope you will enjoy it! :-)" I think it's cute.

The Madsen's are overall quite clean. Everything has it's place. In the bathroom, which is super clean and spartan, I have a locker where I can put all of my toiletries and I have my own set of towels. More importantly, there is nothing on the counter. When I'm home I keep all my toiletries out on the counter. It's filled with my crap. So now I gotta get used to putting everything away >.< haha. 

There is NOTHING on this counter.....Ahhhhhhh.

This is my locker, and thank goodness I have one, because as I'm sure you can tell, I have lots of toiletries.

Since last Monday, I've been into Copenhagen every day. I've gotten lost countless times.While it's pretty busy like NYC, it's harder to navigate because all the streets twist and turn. They do NOT go by the grid system. Not to mention that all the street names are at least 10 letters long and impossible to pronounce. Even with all of these obstacles, I'm starting to recognize the streets and stores. I suspect that in a short amount of time I will know Copenhagen like the back of my hand.....and then I can laugh inwardly at all the tourists who don't know where to go :P It's the same feeling as being a freshman in college and then becoming a sophomore...you laugh at all the freshman even though you were one of them only a couple months ago.

I really do think that DIS (Danish Institute of Study Abroad) has done a good job in forcing us to get to know the city. For orientation they sent us out to check prices at cafes, restaurants and stores, a scavenger hunt for landmarks, and lots of fairs and activities that you have to navigate yourself. If they had danes showing us students where to go, we would not have gotten to know the city as well. Getting lost was an essential part of learning the streets and alleys. 

Here are some pictures that I took while I was out on excursions:

This is the famous, round tower. Everyone in Copenhagen knows about this landmark. It's actually the tallest building in the city, even though it's tinsy compared to buildings in NYC. Christian IV, who was the king of Denmark-Norway in 1588 until his death, was one of the most active kings to ever reign. He initiated many projects, specifically building beautiful castles, towers, and other buildings. The round tower is unique because inside, in order to get to the top of the tower, you would not walk up a staircase, but walk up a giant ramp. Christian IV did this so that he could be carried to the top of the tower in a horse-drawn carriage. He must've been some lazy dude.

This is the church inside of the round tower.

The ceilings were magnificent. WOW.

We also went to the King's Garden, also created by Christian IV. Many danes come here in the summer when the weather is nice to lounge on the grass and have picnics.

This was interesting. It's some kind of ornament for the trees. Odd, but I like it.

This is Christian IV's summer castle. He built it to get away from the stench of the city. There wasn't exactly a sewage system back then.

When entering this castle, you are greeted by two lions. One with its mouth closed (as in this picture) and one with its mouth open (didn't get that pic =/). The reasoning for one lion having its mouth open was because Christian liked to party hardy. When he left his castle he would put his keys into the lions mouth so that he would be able to find them when he got back at dawn. This man loved partying, building, and most of all, women. He had 23 children, and only 7 of those were his own.

We came across the Queen's Guards, when we were visiting the castle where she lives. It was amazing how close we were able to get. I was technically in her courtyard.

More to come later on, I need to take more pictures >.<

xoxo, 

Sarah =)

Skanderborg Festival

Ok, I know it's been a while (like more than a week >.<). I first have to write about Skanderborg Festival that I went to last Friday, August 10th. A lot happened that day so I have tons to say about it! I promise to make another post soon about what's happened since then.

Upon arriving to visit my aunt last Friday, she informed us that we would not be going to straight to her house, but to a giant music festival! I immediately pictured something like Bamboozle, and while the idea to have several artists playing music at once was consistent, this festival was completely different. Obviously, all the artists were danish and singing danish things....so I couldn't fully appreciate all of the music. BUT, there was this one danish artist, Lukas Graham, he sang in english, and the song has really grown on me. It's called "Drunk In The Morning" haha, need I say more?? Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b2doSKS41c. The festival was also different from Bamboozle because there were people there from every age group. I saw moms there with their infants and young children, to teens, to grandmas and grandpas, and then of course younger adults. It was so interesting to see all the different age groups coming together and enjoying themselves. 

Now for the more interesting bits... When we first arrived at the festival, I was POSITIVE that I was going to get drenched. Why?? you might ask, this is why:

Does this look like a friendly sky to you?? No. No it does not. And yet, by some miracle, it didn't even drizzle.

Since the festival lasted five days, many people also camped out to get the best and craziest experience. This picture was only from one section of the festival. People also brought their own tents, so imagine this picture times 50. SO MANY TENTS.

If you didn't already know, everyone bikes in Denmark. EVERYONE. This is, again, only one section of the festival. There were thousands of bikes. Note to self: put tracking device on bike if I decide to go to a music festival.

Walking up and down the path through the festival, I came across these crazy dudes. I couldn't help but take a picture. They look ridiculous! And at the time I thought that this was as crazy as it would get. WRONG. I witnessed a group of men walking naked towards the music entrance in the picture below. I contemplated taking a picture, but then decided seeing their butts once was all I could handle.

Yes ladies and gents. This is all candy. Can you say yummeh??

This is me and my sister, Tess, trying to be cool. Have we succeeded? We were standing on a stage-like structure that also served as a bar/club. There were tons of danes getting beer and dancing and chatting. The picture below is of this crazy guy who was constantly dancing on a table. I thought he was hilarious and worthy of my blog.

After this we strolled up the main alley to look at food and side shops. I got a red t-shirt with a melting record on it. I thought it was cool :D 

Then this quite embarrassing thing happened... While we were checking out the shops this guy kinda stumbled up to me and started jabbering in danish. It took me a couple seconds to realize he was hitting on me, and I then replied that I don't speak any danish. He was asking me where the entrance to the music area was. Clearly he had been there a while because he was quite drunk already. I started laughing a bit and looked at my mom for some desperate help and she just smirked at me and ran away!! ARG! After that came a wonderful awkward silence and I took it as an opportunity to run away myself. Haha... oh boy....

Finally we decided to leave and go back to my aunts house where I proceeded to crash on my bed.

Till next time =)

xoxo, 

Sarah =P 

Food, Family and Fraud

Hej!

So, I was going to do a post weekly, but via request of some annoying family member (hi daddy <3 ) I guess I can write another one now. It is Friday afternoon and my sister, my mom and I will be leaving in an hour to catch a train to go and visit her sister's family. I'll have to add pictures later because they are all just adorable and pretty. Danish people generally are just beautiful. It's not fair. Everyone here also has a garden. I know that's kind of random, but in every yard I see roses and vegetables and lots of other pretty plants. Why doesn't Jersey have any gardens like these??? Oh yea, DEER. Well, unless you wrap your plants in heinous nets or spray them with coyote pee, it's quite difficult to keep deer away. Rawr.

This week started out kind of rough. I went to check my bank account randomly, and POOF! Where the hell did all my money go?!?! Someone horribly raided and abused my bank account in the form of taking out large sums of money. I have absolutely no idea how anyone could do this since I still have my card physically with me. Whatever. My bank was kind enough to refund me all of my stolen money. So thank goodness for that.

After that whole ordeal, I went to go see Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. BEST. MOVIE. EVER. Ok, maybe not the best movie EVER ever, Titanic won my heart first, but Batman was still pretty damn good. It may have been 165 minutes long, but it went quickly. That's when you know it's a good movie. I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Now, I really can't help but talk about this next topic. Danish food. It's AMAZING, and sooo much better than American food in every way (in my opinion at least). Everything is fresh and not processed. I'm currently living in cowland, and every cow that I've seen is eating GRASS, not corn, GRASS. What a concept. Maybe that's why their food tastes so good. Speaking of cows. If you ever come to Denmark yourself and go to the more rural areas, BEWARE THE BIG FIELDS! Every now and then you will be driving along when all of a sudden, WHAM, you are hit with the lovely stench of cow manure. And it doesn't go away for about 5 minutes ... It's a long 5 minutes. Farmers fertilize their crops with fresh cow waste, and while the crops love it, your nose will not.

Anyway!!! Thanks to google, I will post some pictures of danish cusine. I picked the pictures that were the most accurate to what I have been eating.

This is a typical lunch. Danes eat this super healthy brown grain bread, they call it rye bread (very different from our rye bread). I used to hate it, but it's really grown on me. You can put a variety of meats on it, or cheese, or "lopesti." That is NOT the correct spelling, but that is how you pronounce it. Whatever you do, don't ask what it actually is. Just eat it. It tastes good. I promise ;)

This is another lunch meal. Bread, mayonnaise, cucumber, tomato, and shrimp! These tiny shrimps are quite popular. Very tasty.

Mmmmmmm, danish hot dogs. They look quite different from the average Hebrew National hot dog, but they taste sooooo much better. They are not as salty and they have much more flavor. Once you've had one, you will never think of American hot dogs the same again.

This is a good breakfast/treat sandwich. Jelly with chocolate on top. I loveee this chocolate! It is made special for sandwiches (or a midnight chocolate craving ;) ). They are very thin, rectangular pieces of chocolate, made perfect for stacking on bread.

Now this is an all-time favorite breakfast OR dessert. Depends on what you're cravin'. It's called aebleskiver (and that is the correct spelling). Essentially, they are small pancake balls. You can dip them in sugar, jelly, or nutella. You have to cook them in this really interesting pan that has crater holes in it so that you can get the round shape.

OKAY! I have to run now otherwise I will miss my train!!! Tootles =)

xoxo, 

Sarah

P.S. If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to ask!